A Different Tail
by JD98
Summary: Inspired by Mickey Seraphin's Another Imagining. AU in which Lisanna never 'died'. After an encounter with a certain Take-Over mage in Hargeon, Lucy joins the famous Fairy Tail wizard guild. Over time, developing bonds that could last forever with her new family. Don't own Fairy Tail.
1. The Beginning of an Adventure

"We're almost there." Lisanna said, spotting the sizeable port town of Hargeon as the train made its way along the tracks. She wore a dark blue, V-neck jumper over a light blue t-shirt. She also had knee-length, army green shorts and black, calf-high boots.

"Do you really think we're going to find anything?" Her not-quite human friend asked. He was a small, blue-furred, bipedal cat with white fur on his stomach and tip of his tail. Unlike his friend, he wore no clothes, though he did have a green sack strapped across his shoulder, this was Happy, Lisanna's travelling companion.

Since the two were attempting to follow up on the rumour of someone referring to themselves as 'Salamander' and while Natsu thought it would lead to finding Igneel, Lisanna had pointed out that it would be a much bigger story if an actual dragon had turned up in a prominent city such as Hargeon. That detail however had not shaken the Dragon-Slayer's determination to follow up on a potential clue as to the whereabouts of his foster father and per the restrictions currently placed on him, he had asked Lisanna to take Happy and investigate in his stead.

"Honestly, I don't know. Natsu seemed optimistic at least and, why wouldn't he? It's been a while since he got a decent lead on Igneel." The white-haired girl answered as the train pulled to a stop, "But I have a feeling we'll find something important." She continued as the duo stepped onto the platform. Little did she realise that her statement carried far more significance than she realised.

* * *

"Wait, so this is the only magic shop in town?" Lucy inquired, the blonde had noticed the shop and entered with the purpose of browsing, after discovering the lacklustre stock, she had asked for directions to a larger magic shop. Which resulted in her current predicament that the shop was the only location where she could purchase magical items.

"I'm afraid so." The shopkeeper replied, "As we're a port town, people more often than not come for fishing supplies, only about ten percent of the townspeople actually use magic. Even then it's only simple stuff like this Colour magic." He continued, producing a pink card with a dial of sorts on it, as he spun it, the colours of his clothing changed.

The blonde sighed in thinly-veiled disappointment, until a gleam caught her eye. The only thing Lucy had seen was that the stock was only the small size, not what was specifically included in the stock. It was a silver key with the symbol of a silhouetted, round head with a pointed nose. "I've been looking for this one forever!" She exclaimed, recognising the key as that of Canis Minor.

"You're sure you want that one?" The shopkeeper questioned, since the spirit that could be summoned from the key didn't have much use beyond that of being a pet.

"I'm certain." Lucy affirmed, "So? How much?" She asked with a smile.

"Twenty thousand jewels." The shopkeeper answered cheerfully.

"Wow that was a lot." Lucy grumbled once she was outside the shop, the key now in her possession. The blonde had been quite reluctant to hand over the money, though given the fact that the key was made of silver and could summon a spirit despite it being one more suited to be a pet did make the key quite valuable, the shopkeeper could have even decided on a higher price if there was higher demand for magical items in the port town. However, that didn't change Lucy's annoyance towards the good chunk of money now missing from her purse.

She was so engrossed in her mutterings that she almost missed the gleeful cries of several girls running past her. From what she caught of the conversation, the famous mage Salamander was in town. That, and Salamander was a member of Fairy Tail, a guild she had been looking to join. Looking below from atop the bridge, she noticed a steadily-growing crowd of women flocking around a figure, she was too far away to get a good look at the figure, but it was clear that it was Salamander. With a spring in her step, the young woman made her way down a nearby stone stairwell and approached the crowd.

The blockade of people didn't provide easy access for Lucy, so she opted to push her way through, there was the occasional protest from a member of the crowd, but they didn't actively try to stop her from moving forward. Once she managed to make her way to the clear centre, she found herself at last face-to-face with the fixation of the crowd. A man with dark-blue hair swept over to the left side, wearing a high-collar purple, though his most prominent feature was a tattoo resembling a pair of prongs above his right eyebrow. It didn't take much guessing to realise that the man was Salamander.

The man cast his gaze towards Lucy, a confident smile on his face as he carried himself with bravado. 'He looked at me!' Lucy thought gleefully as her heart rate sped up. She observed the man, soon becoming aware that the more she looked at Salamander, the more handsome he appeared, so much so that she wanted to bask in his radiance.

"Excuse me? We're looking for someone." A white-haired girl spoke up quite loudly, having forced her way to the front just as Lucy had. The woman was soon followed by a blue-furred cat that walked on two legs. Immediately, Salamander and the crowd's attention was drawn to the newcomers. Though, in contrast to her fellow crowd members, the girl seemed disappointed in the appearance of the fire-mage whilst her companion appeared to be wary. Lucy seemed to be the only one who took notice of a brief look of disgust the girl displayed as she took a glance at one of Salamander's hands that had a ring on it. Lucy, looked to what the girl had seen that was so repulsive, instantly, the fascination she had exhibited towards Salamander cleared up as she now understood.

The ring on Salamander's finger was one used for Charm magic, often used to gain people's adoration. However, the magic had been outlawed several years ago due to the its use by the seedier side of society. "Well aren't you a brazen young lady." Salamander spoke up, approaching the one who had interrupted the swooning of the crowd, he gently cupped her face with his right hand and gently caressed her cheek, clearly believing that the young woman was under the effects of his Charm magic.

However, much to both the crowd's and Salamander's shock, the young woman grabbed his wrist and pushed his hand away, though it was what she said next that truly surprised the crowd, "Hands off creep."

The woman's statement clearly angered the crowd, save for Lucy, many voicing their outrage. Salamander however soon put his hands up, "Ladies, ladies, please there's no need to be angry and I suppose I was a little forward." Salamander stated, which seemed to placate the crowd, "How about I give you something to make up for it?" He questioned, addressing the young woman, writing something down on a piece of paper he produced from his cloak. He held it up for the entire crowd to see, written on the paper was Salamander's signature.

The response was a glow that emanated from the young woman's right arm, a sound as if something had been quickly sheared and the paper fell apart in six separated pieces. The audience gasped at the sudden event, there was general confusion from the crowd as the woman's arm glowed again, as if it had changed from another form, but when the light died down, it appeared completely normal. "I don't take autographs from posers." She stated, scowling at the famous mage.

Salamander didn't take too kindly to being humiliated a second time in front of his mostly captivated audience, if his glare aimed at the young woman was anything to go by as he clearly now understood the defiance was a result of his Charm magic being ineffectual. "Very well then." Salamander huffed before he turned away from her. "Well, apologies ladies but I'm afraid I must be going now." He spoke up, much to the dismay of his crowd, "However," He began, with a snap of his fingers, he was lifted into the air by a trail of purple flames, "I'm hosting a private party on my yacht later this evening, and you're all invited!" He declared, disappearing into the horizon, once the crowd had finished their cheers of delight, it began to disperse.

Happy finally decided to speak up once the crowd had cleared the area, knowing that his appearance and the pitch of his voice made it certain he would have been marauded by several women squealing about how cute he was, "I can't believe we came all this way for nothing, Natsu's going to be so disappointed." The blue cat lamented.

"I know." Lisanna agreed, gently picking Happy up and resting her chin on his head, feeling similar despondence to her companion.

"Excuse me?" Lucy asked, having stuck around to thank the other woman for her indirect help in snapping the blonde out of the control of Salamander's magic, "I just wanted to thank the two of you for helping me out back there."

"So, you noticed it too?" Lisanna inquired, Lucy nodding in response.

"I did, yeah. He was using Charm magic, a banned kind of magic that's effects can only be broken if the person it's being used on notices it. Anyway, how about I treat you guys to a meal as a thank you?" Lucy asked, as soon as she asked the question, the duo's stomachs grumbled loudly. The blonde was surprised but giggled in response.

"Well I suppose we could go for a bite to eat." Lisanna chuckled, sheepishly scratching the back of her head.

* * *

Lucy was grateful as she watched her newfound companions eat their respective lunches seeing as they hadn't ordered much and her current balance could do with a break after the blow it had been dealt through purchasing the silver key earlier in the day. Though she was also surprised at the difference in the way the two friends ate their food. Happy was tearing into a fish, sending scales flying, by contrast, Lisanna ate the salad she had ordered slowly and didn't produce any mess.

Of course, it would do no good to just sit and gawk at the two who had helped her out, so Lucy attempted to make conversation, "So, you two are Lisanna and Happy, right?"

"That's right." Lisanna replied as she finished chewing on a piece of lettuce.

"Okay, again, thank you for helping me out with that creep." Lucy thanked, she now had Lisanna's full attention, "I may not look it, but I'm a mage too." She stated proudly, "Plus there's a really awesome guild that I want to join and if I got accepted it would be a dream come true!"

"Oh, what kind of magic do you use?" Lisanna asked curiously.

Lucy grinned as she took out her key ring to display her collection, "I'm a Celestial Spirit mage."

"Wow!" Lisanna exclaimed, "I don't know much about that magic but I do know that there are only twelve gold zodiac keys and for you to have three of them?! You must be really strong!"

Lucy smiled as she blushed at the compliment, "No, I'm a novice really, I actually inherited my keys from," Lucy went quiet, "my mom."

"Inherited? So?" Lisanna asked tentatively, Lucy nodded in response, "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"It's fine." Lucy assured the other woman, smiling back at the looks of sympathy she received from the duo, "So, you two were here looking for someone?" Lucy asked, deciding to change the subject.

"That's right, we were looking for someone on behalf of a friend of ours, I don't suppose you've heard of someone called Igneel, have you?" Lisanna asked.

Lucy thought for a moment, "Sorry, the name doesn't ring a bell."

"Worth a shot." Lisanna shrugged, though her expression soon became pensive.

"What's wrong Lisanna?" Happy asked.

"It's just a hunch, but I think I've seen the guy who was pretending to be Salamander before." Lisanna explained, "Happy, can you pass me the Bingo Book?" In response to her question, Happy slung the bag over to his front and searched through it, eventually pulling out a small, brown, leather-bound book out of the sack. She flicked through the book as she intently scoured the pages, "Got it, Bora of Prominence, a Fire magic user. Formerly of the guild Titan Nose, he was kicked out when he was discovered to be a slaver. Rank: B Class criminal."

"So… all those girls?" Lucy asked rhetorically, speaking in an ominous tone as she realised the sick implications of the information she had just heard, "We have to stop him." She said resolutely, "Please Lisanna, I know you're a mage too, help me out, please."

"I was going to agree." Lisanna said, "But how did you know I was a mage?"

Lucy calmed down, realising it would do her no good to get worked up despite the circumstances, "From what I know there are three types of guild." Lucy began, "Mage, Merchant and Mercenary. You guys can't be merchants because they don't carry Bingo Books around. While you could be a mercenary who specialises in hand to hand combat, that glow before seemed to be some kind of magic, therefore, I think you're a mage."

"Good deduction." Lisanna commented, "You're partly right at least, I am a mage, but so is Happy."

"That's right." Happy declared proudly, "We're official mages."

"Really, what guild do you guys belong to?" The blonde inquired curiously, her two companions grinned. Happy turned around to show Lucy his exposed back and Lisanna began to roll up the sleeve on her left arm, revealing a green and red mark respectively, one that Lucy instantly recognised, "You guys are with-!" She nearly declared loudly, but she was silenced by Lisanna slapping a hand over her mouth.

"Careful, we don't want anything getting back to Bora." Lisanna advised, Lucy nodded in understanding, the white-haired girl removed her hand.

"Sorry, but seriously, you guys are in Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked as excitedly as she could while still keeping quiet, upon the two nodding in confirmation she continued, "That's so cool!"

"So, the guild you wanted to join…" Lisanna implied, with her blonde companion nodding vigorously, "Well, our master normally accepts people into the guild anyway. But if we help each other out, I can put in a good word for you."

"Really?! Thank you so much!" Lucy said, almost unable to keep her gratefulness to a whisper at the prospect of joining her favourite guild, 'She does actually look familiar.' Lucy thought, though the blonde couldn't quite put her finger on where she may have seen her fellow mage.

"But, if we're going after Bora, I would rather make a plan somewhere more private." Lisanna said, Lucy agreed, paying the bill before the trio entered an alleyway close to a restaurant.

"So, Bora mentioned the party would be on his yacht, should we just go in all guns blazing?" Lucy proposed, though her idea was quickly debunked by Happy.

"But Hargeon is a port town, how would we know which boat is his?" The blue cat explained, "And even if we got the right one, Bora said the party would be tonight, he might not even be there."

"True," Lisanna replied, appearing to think before a worried expression crossed her features.

"Something wrong?" Lucy asked.

"There is probably one plan that would work, but I'm not sure if you're going to like it."

"Lay it on me." The blonde replied.

"Okay, I think our only option is to bait him out. Luckily, I can transform so Bora won't recognise me." The white-haired mage stated, demonstrating as her body glowed. Once it died down, her hair had grown down to the small of her back and had turned brown, her eyes had also gone a similar hue. Her skin tone had shifted from being pale to more on the tan side, even her outfit had changed. Now, she was clad in a dark-green dress that reached her calves with matching pumps as her footwear, an armband the same colour as her guild mark now obscured it. Lucy went wide-eyed, clearly surprised at the drastic change Lisanna had undergone, "I actually use Take-Over magic, but Transformation magic has similar principles, so it's quite easy for me to pull it off without using too much magic." She explained.

Lucy was quite in awe of the other woman's skill, but soon realised a possible spanner in the works, "But, how are we going to find Bora? Hargeon is a pretty big place."

"Leave it to me!" Happy declared enthusiastically, a pair of angelic wings sprouting from his back and hovering into the air, "I can watch out from the air, I'll let you guys know when I see him." He informed the two before flying off to search the city from a bird's-eye view.

Happy soon returned, and with good news, "Guys, I saw him, he was trying to impress another crowd of girls." The two women nodded, following Happy's lead until the trio found themselves in a park area. Happy levitated just above the tree line to investigate the source of applause, he turned and nodded to indicate that it was indeed Bora causing the cheers. He quickly darted back to his companions, "He's coming this way!" He said with clear urgency in his tone, rushing back into the undergrowth so as not to be recognised by the rogue Fire mage, who soon rounded the corner.

Once Bora set his sights on the two, his interest became clearly piqued and luckily Lisanna's transformation was obviously fooling him, "Why hello there ladies." He said in a suave tone, attempting to use his Charm magic, "Are you two per chance interested in meeting a famous mage?" He asked, producing a small purple flame in the palm of his hand.

"Very impressive!" Lisanna stated, "We may not look like it, but we're aspiring mages."

"Then perhaps our meeting was fated." Bora said, gently taking one of Lisanna's hands, "You see I am a wizard of a famous guild, it's called Fairy Tail and I am the Salamander. If you attend the party taking place on my yacht, I could get you in. Besides that," He said, planting a kiss on the back of Lisanna's hand, "I wouldn't mind having such beautiful new additions to our ranks."

"You're too kind!" Lisanna giggled, though internally, the Take-Over mage was using every ounce of her willpower to not gag.

"How will we know which yacht is yours?" Lucy asked.

"Very easily my dear. A series of fireworks will spell out 'Salamander' above my yacht, unfortunately not all of those who I invited will be able to attend due to capacity issues. But if you two would like, I can get you special entry."

"That would be wonderful, thank you!"

"Then that settles it, I look forward to seeing you two at the party tonight." Bora said, exiting in the same fashion he had done earlier. Once he was out of sight, the two women high-fived each other, knowing they had deceived the criminal.

"Now all we do is wait." Lisanna stated confidently, changing back to her original form and taking a seat on a nearby bench in an effort to conserve and restore her magic, Happy soon emerged from the underbrush, joining his companion by curling up on her lap. Lucy joined the two, choosing to take out the latest copy of Sorcerer Weekly, a magazine that specialised in the latest information on legal guilds and the wizards that made up their ranks. It was also known to hold pictures from photoshoots of various wizards, one of the most prominent being Mirajane Strauss, like Lisanna she was a Fairy Tail mage.

Though the more Lucy observed the images of the model, the more she realised something, she had white hair and blue eyes, exactly like her new companion. She then proceeded to look back and forth between the picture and her friend, who had now taken an interest in what her blonde friend was doing. Now, Lucy had begun to notice that it wasn't just eye and hair colour the two had in common, both looked quite similar. Curiously, Lucy began to ask her question, "Are you…"

"Related to Mirajane?" Lisanna finished, then smiled proudly, "Yes, I am."

"I _knew_ you looked familiar!" The blonde stated, "So what's Mirajane like?" She asked, eager to know about her idol.

Before Lisanna could answer, Happy beat her to the punch, "She can be really nice and she's the absolute best at cooking fish!" He declared, drooling lightly as he daydreamed about his favourite food, Lisanna chuckled at her friend's enthusiasm.

"That's… pretty vague." Lucy deadpanned.

* * *

Within a few hours, the sun had set. The group had temporarily booked accommodation to allow Lucy to change into an appropriate dress for the party, Happy to give his wings a rest, and for Lisanna to reapply her incognito form. The three worked out their plan, Lisanna and Lucy would infiltrate the party together while Happy would remain on standby in the sky should there a be a need for a quick get-away.

Exactly as Bora had said, his yacht was easy to find not only for the fireworks but also the ship stood out among a gathering of cargo vessels that were rather small in comparison to their destination, "How nice to see the two of you again!" Bora greeted from the doorway at the top of the gangplank, "The other guests are already aboard, please, follow me to my personal quarters."

The two followed their oblivious target as he led them up a series of staircases, though the two took notice of the absence of guests in an inconspicuous manner. Halfway through their ascent, the boat began to move, eventually the group found themselves at a room located at the highest point from the main deck. The room was split into three sections, the one they were currently in was likely the most spacious despite the simple, if lavish décor. In the centre of the room was a large seat big enough for three people with a gold frame and purple cushions, in front of it was a mahogany table. The rest of the room was taken up by various small cupboards which were likely being used as storage for something. There were two doorways aside from the one they had entered through, which presumably led to a bathroom and master bedroom.

"Please take a seat." Bora instructed, the two doing so as he began to rummage through cupboards, soon producing a bottle of wine and two corresponding glasses, "The finest wine for the finest ladies." He said in a suave tone, pouring the two a glass each, "Drink up." The two women took hold of their respective glasses, tilting them as if getting ready to drink. However, before the wine even touched their lips, Lucy and Lisanna side-eyed each other and promptly threw their glasses forward, drenching the former guild mage, "What is the meaning of this!" He exclaimed angrily.

"We know who you are, Bora of Prominence." Lisanna declared, shifting back into her original form.

" _You!"_ Bora growled, recognising Lisanna from earlier.

"Where are the other girls?!" Lucy demanded.

Bora sighed in mild annoyance, before his expression turned into that of an arrogant smirk, "They are… suitably accommodated for our trip to Bosco, don't you worry. It's just such a shame that you two had to be so difficult." He said, groups of his hired thugs entered the room from all three doorways, providing no chance of escape. It seemed Bora did not want to take the two mages lightly from the start, hence the sudden influx of security. Lucy was the first to react, reaching for her key pouch in an attempt to summon one of her spirits. However, Bora noticed her attempt and quickly lashed out with a trail of fire that had the property of being able to hold on to objects, as demonstrated when it wrapped around the key chain Lucy had managed to produce. The trail retracted, taking Lucy's keys with it, "Celestial magic? Interesting enough, but you won't be needing these where we're going." He said, casually throwing the key chain out through a window before either girl could react. The sound of a splash indicated the key chain had wound up in the sea.

Lisanna realised her companion was now completely defenceless against Bora and his band of goons, now demonstrating her Take Over magic as her right arm glowed. Now revealed to be covered in coarse, brown fur except for her hand, though had now gained what seemed to be a tough hide that was lavender in colour. She clenched her fist, "Hammer Arm!" She cried as she swung at the wall, smashing through it with ease and creating a plume of smoke.

Lucy coughed as she struggled to see through the thick veil of dust before something wrapped around her waist and she was suddenly pulled her through the hole in the wall Lisanna had made into the clear night air, "Are you okay?" A familiar voice asked her.

"But what about Lisanna?" Lucy asked in a concerned tone, given that their friend was now facing even slimmer odds.

"Don't worry, I've known Lisanna for a long time, she's not going to lose easily." Happy stated confidently.

All Lucy could do was trust the cat's judgement, something which was able to tide over her concern somewhat, though she soon realised that there was indeed something she could do to help the white-haired mage, "Happy, I'm going to need you to let me down."

"Don't just stand there you idiots! Find them!" Bora ordered, muffled slightly due to covering his mouth with his cape but his message was still audible. He received cries of affirmation in response, however, they all seemed to come from behind him. Granted it was where the bulk of his reinforcements was located but he didn't hear any such sound from the other side of the smoke.

Bora grinned confidently as the plume began to disperse and noticed silhouettes beginning to take shape. Though as the shapes began to become more clear, only one stood upright with the rest lying on the floor and the standing figure seemed to possess… bunny ears? Once the dust cleared completely, Lisanna was revealed, now scowling with some of Bora's thugs knocked out at her feet. Her appearance had changed once again, as well as the bunny ears that had sprung up, her arms, torso and feet were covered in white fur, a cotton tail the same pigment as the fur protruded from her lower back. The only part not matched to her largely white aesthetic was her legs, which appeared to be covered by a pair of tight-fitting, black tracksuit leggings, revealing toned leg muscles. Her hands and feet had changed so they now resembled the feet of a rabbit.

"Take Over magic?" The rogue mage wondered, before sighing, "Looks like I'm going to have to prematurely brand you." He continued regretfully, though it was clearly more for his own sake than Lisanna's as he primed his attack, "Prominence Lashings!" At his command he unleashed four gouts of fire in the shape of whips in a sweeping motion. Despite Bora's confidence in his technique, it soon waned when Lisanna seemed to disappear in a white blur, "Where did she-?!"

"You can't brand what you can't see." Bora heard Lisanna's voice whisper in his ear before he felt a sudden jab to his solar plexus, causing the Fire wizard to gasp in pain as the air was driven from his lungs. Despite the blow not being incredibly strong it was still enough to incapacitate the slaver. Bora's thugs raised their weapons in defence of their ringleader.

"No one can match the speed of my Jackrabbit Soul!" Lisanna declared, jumping into the fray and bouncing between the hired help like a pinball, striking fast at the knees and other vulnerable areas. It helped that thugs were confused by the sudden movements, some tried to be smart by attempting to restrain the female mage but found themselves crashing into each other, unable to keep up with Lisanna's speed.

And that was when the ship was lifted.

"Thank you for your help Aquarius." Lucy thanked. Miraculously, she had found her key chain due to the keys having been thrown out in relatively shallow waters. Next, she had asked Happy to take her to the shore, where she summoned her most powerful spirit and despite the Water Bearer's annoyance for her key having been dropped, she still complied with her summoner. Leading to the Celestial Spirit using her power to cause a miniature tsunami with the power to lift the yacht up and back towards the shore. Thankfully, the control was to such a degree that she could prevent the ship from flipping over and that the tsunami wouldn't become more dangerous when it hit the shore.

That didn't mean that the ship wouldn't cause any damage, as proved when it still crashed into the shore and beached itself in an upright position, part of the hull splitting open as well as breaking part of the concrete storm wall, "Just don't call me for a while, I'll be with my boyfriend so I won't come unless it really is serious, understand brat?" The mermaid-like spirit asked, though it came out as an order.

"Understood." The blonde affirmed and with that, Aquarius disappeared in a shimmer of golden light.

Suddenly, there was a bang that came from the main deck, Lucy and Happy looked up to see Lisanna jump out through a doorway with the door blown off its hinges, causing the two to run towards the ship, "That's one of Lisanna's partial Take-Overs, Jackrabbit Soul!" Happy informed, "It sacrifices a lot of its strength but it's her fastest form." Happy didn't have time to give more commentary as the white-haired mage was soon followed by a trail of purple fire, which she was able to avoid. Lisanna noticed her two companions, quickly shifting out of her Jackrabbit Soul to turn her arms into a set of wings and gliding down towards her friends.

"Lisanna, are you okay?" Lucy asked as her friend came in for landing and dispelling her wings, before she could respond however, Bora's voice spoke up.

"Lisanna?"

The three faced the rogue Fire mage, now descending on a cloud of flames, "As in Lisanna Strauss, baby sister to the She-Devil?" Lucy was confused, having not heard the title before whereas Lisanna was wary of the slaver at hearing her sister's epithet, "You're the one who almost got yourself and your siblings killed on an S-Class mission, the famed 'Beast' incident two years ago." Lucy of course, wanted to question what Bora was talking about, though she stopped herself when she took notice of Lisanna, who's eyes were now shadowed by her bangs and her fists were visibly clenched. Even Happy looked away guiltily as if he knew something, "From what I understand, you had to be saved by another member of your team after trying to reason with your brother who was out of control." Now Lisanna had visibly begun shaking, Bora being the ignorant bastard he was continued with an arrogant tone, "You know what that makes you? A weak, little, bitch. Though honestly your brother was such a fool, a Take-Over mage who can't even tame the soul of a monster he was supposed to control? How pathetic."

A silence followed Bora's taunt, one that was broken when Lisanna spoke up, "You know Bora, I was going to just leave you to the Rune Knights, but then you had the gall to insult my family. How about I show you just how much of a 'weak, little bitch', I really am?" At her rhetorical question, Lisanna began to glow, her shape changing so it was reminiscent of a canine, which then began to grow, and grow, and grow. All the while Bora's expression slowly shifted from an arrogant smirk, to one of absolute terror. Likewise, Lucy's curiosity at her friend's technique turned to shock as Lisanna emerged in her intended form. The only one who's expression hadn't changed was Happy's, who knew of the ability Lisanna possessed.

Standing before the three was a white-furred wolf that stood at eight-feet tall with piercing blue eyes, gleaming white teeth that where shown off by a snarl and a red Fairy Tail insignia emblazoned on the left foreleg. Bora was now shaking, though instead of it being out of rage, it was fear, "Nice doggy…?" He asked meekly.

Lisanna's response was to open her maw, Bora screamed, evidently believing he was going to be devoured. However, Lisanna did something quite different, she did take Bora up in her jaws, though it was by his cape. Lisanna then began to roll her neck, causing Bora to begin spinning as if he was being used as part of a human hammer throw. Once he was going as fast he could, Lisanna threw him with pinpoint accuracy towards a bell tower situated at Hargeon's highest point, the premature tolls of the metal object indicating Bora had indeed slammed into it.

Taking a moment to process the information, Lucy soon found her shock turning into delight, "Lisanna that was so cool!" The blonde complimented, Lisanna turned towards Lucy and gave her gave her a quite literal wolfish grin.

"Uh… guys, we have a problem!" Happy said, clear urgency in his tone, the two mages looked in the direction the blue cat was pointing. They instantly took note of the battalion of heavily armed Rune Knights heading straight for them.

" **We need to go."** Lisanna said, her tone still noticeably feminine but quite a bit deeper, **"Hop on."** She ordered.

"What?" Lucy asked in a confused tone.

" **You want to go to Fairy Tail, don't you?"** She asked, it took Lucy the briefest of moments to realise the implications of Lisanna's question. Grinning, the Celestial mage eagerly nodded and with some assistance from Happy, sporting a grin of his own, she climbed atop her transformed companion. The Take-Over mage immediately made a break for it once Lucy was secure, jumping over the Rune Knights that had begun to surround them, with Lucy laughing all the way.

With this meeting a grand adventure would begin for the Celestial mage and if her soon-to-be fellow guild members were anything like Lisanna, then she was sure Fairy Tail was truly a place she could call home!

* * *

A/N: Hey guys, I know those of you who read my previous FT fic were expecting this but for those who didn't, this is essentially my take on Fairy Tail. Basically, I'm going to put a focus on character interaction with Lucy as the main character. The rest of the cast will rotate depending on the situation, as displayed I've also given the cast new abilities (Wolf Soul) or even changed the abilities of pre-established forms (Jackrabbit Soul). You may have also noticed the Pokémon and Naruto references that I made. As for ships, I've decided to include ones that I think will make sense in the story. However, I will not answer questions on which ships I will include as I wish for this story to be enjoyed for its plot, not its pairings.

But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and feel free to make suggestions for the story, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to include them but I'll listen to them nonetheless.


	2. Arrival

Lucy stared in awe at the ornate wooden building that was the Fairy Tail guild hall from the stone path leading up to the building. After her eventful encounter with Lisanna in Hargeon, the Take-Over mage had carried her out of the port city to the next town over where they had obtained train tickets which would take them to Magnolia as part of an overnight journey. Eventually the two had arrived on the outskirts of the city in the early hours of the morning just as people were beginning to stir and leisurely made their way towards the hall. Judging from the sound coming from within the building, it seemed fairly busy despite the day having barely begun.

"Shall we?" Lisanna questioned, chuckling lightly at Lucy's clear admiration of the building. The blonde giving an eager nod as her friend began to lead her up the path, an eagerness that Lucy felt increasing tenfold as Lisanna pushed the doors open, "We're back!" The Take-Over-user declared cheerfully, not a second later, she was tackled by a pink blur.

Despite staggering back from the sudden force, she was able to maintain her balance and held on to what or rather, _whom_ had latched themselves on to her, "That's Natsu, he's a fire wizard and the friend who we were searching for Igneel for." Happy briefly explained to Lucy.

"Did you find anything?" Natsu asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not, sorry Natsu." Lisanna informed him regretfully, causing the Dragon Slayer to appear despondent. Though his expression did soon clear up as he smiled gratefully at the youngest Strauss.

"Thanks for trying, Lis." Natsu said appreciatively, "Now if you'll excuse me." He continued, before walking over to a table where a buck-toothed member of the guild was sitting and proceeded to leap onto said table with a loud thud.

"Can I help you with something Natsu?" The member he approached asked.

"That rumour you told me about the 'Salamander' didn't go anywhere." The Dragon Slayer growled as he cracked his knuckles.

"Natsu, if you want to start a fight, then start it with me." A black haired young man who appeared to be about Natsu's age said in a challenging tone. Curiously, he was in nothing but his boxers.

Happy decided to address the look of confusion Lucy showed at the newcomer's strange choice of attire, "That's Gray, he's an Ice-Make wizard, so him and Natsu are constantly at each other's throats."

"You know Lis, you and your new friend might wanna get over here before things get too intense." Someone else suggested, the source of the voice being a woman just a little older than Lucy who was seated at the bar on the other side of the guild hall. Her brunette locks came down to the small of her back, she wore a blue-green bikini top, brown tracksuit leggings and a pair of similarly-coloured sandals. Heeding the new girl's advice, Lisanna took hold of Lucy's wrist and led her past the now brawling wizards. A good thing to, since Natsu and Gray's initial confrontation now seemed to be dragging other guild members into the fray whether they wanted to or not.

Once they were at the safety of the bar, yet another voice called out to them, "Welcome back Lisanna!" When the two turned to the source of the voice, it was none other than Mirajane Strauss, who was cleaning mugs at one end of the bar. Lisanna wandered over to her sister while Lucy was stuck in a starstruck gaze, she was so deep in her internal fangirling she didn't realise the brawl started by Natsu and Gray had now escalated and was resulting in mugs, chairs and even tables being tossed around.

One such mug was sent hurtling straight towards Lucy, until it impacted against an invisible, solid surface, the sound from the connection causing Lucy to jump and notice that it had almost hit her. Slowly, the blonde inched her hand forward and did in fact feel something solid, though the fact that it could stop movement from both directions was strange, "It must have come into effect after I got to the bar." Lucy mumbled to herself, though someone almost immediately broke her out of her pondering.

"Excuse me? Do you mind passing that over here?" Lucy turned to the inquirer, it was the same woman who had called her and Lisanna over before. Realising that the Celestial wizard didn't understand what she meant, the older woman indicated to the floor where Lucy stood. Looking down, Lucy saw that there was a card on the floor, she picked it up and waved her hand in front of her, where the barrier should have been but there was now no solid surface as Lucy's hand brushed nothing but air.

Lucy stared at the card in curiosity before returning it to its rightful owner. The other woman produced a deck of cards and shuffled the one given back to her into it, "So blondie, what's a cutie like you doing in Fairy Tail?" The woman asked as she patted bar stool next to her invitingly.

A light pink hue adorned Lucy's cheeks at the compliment, accepting the woman's invitation, "It's Lucy, I've actually been wanting to join the guild for a while. I met Lisanna in Hargeon, where we found out Bora of Prominence was trying to kidnap girls to sell them on as slaves, we took him down and now I'm here."

"Good job," Her companion said, nodding approvingly despite the brief summary, "I think you'll do well here, I'm Cana by the way."

"So…?" Lucy began, "Is this normal?" She asked, indicating to the ongoing brawl.

"Happens almost daily." Cana replied nonchalantly, "But it looks like it's about to get good." She grinned in an eager tone. Lucy blinked in confusion at what she meant, turning her attention to where Natsu and Gray were fighting, another man, quite a bit taller than the duo approached them as if he would function as a voice of reason.

"If you two were real men, you would have taken this outside." The imposing male said in gruff tone. In response to his statement, Natsu and Gray, who were both stuck in a deadlock with one trying to push the other over stopped their stalemate before they gave the briefest of nods to each other. Both let go, turning to the one who interrupted them and then simultaneously lashed out with a cry of 'Not now Elfman!', sending the now identified guild member hurtling back into the chaos of the large-scale brawl.

"Who was that?" Lucy asked in confusion given the anticlimactic ending to 'Elfman's' presence plus the fact that Natsu and Gray had resumed their one-on-one.

"That was Elfman, Mira and Lisanna's brother." Cana explained.

"Seriously?" Lucy asked, confused as the man who had just been sent flying seemed nothing like Lisanna.

"Yep and he's the second biggest example of why the men in the guild have no class." Cana answered.

"Second biggest?" Lucy asked, the card mage pointed to somewhere off in the side lines, where an auburn-haired wizard with blue-tinted glasses had one arm each around a girl at either side, both of whom were clearly smitten with the wizard in question. Lucy recognised the young man as Loke, a wizard well known for his status as one of Sorcerer Weekly's most eligible bachelors.

"Can you guys keep it down?!" He shouted over the noise of the brawl, "I came here for some peace and quiet with these lovely ladies and I'd appreciate it if-" He was cut off mid-rant as a mug promptly collided his face, it fell to the floor soon after the impact, "Alright then," the clearly disgruntled wizard growled in an annoyed tone and rising from his seat before apologising to his swooning fans. He clutched the jewel of the ring on his finger, clearly aiming to use a spell.

"He's going to use magic?!" Lucy cried, quickly jumping behind the bar for cover. Her paranoia was well-founded as she observed other members of the guild priming their own magics, a clear sign that the brawl could only escalate.

"That's enough you brats!" The voice of a giant cloaked in darkness boomed, instantly causing the previously battling wizards to freeze.

After a tense moment in the presence of the gigantic creature that almost brushed the roof of the guild hall, Mirajane questioned in a far too cheerful tone, "So, you were here all this time master?"

"That's the master?" Lucy whispered meekly, now the blonde was starting to think that joining a guild that appeared to have a monster as its master was not such a good idea.

"Now that I have your attention." The colossus stated, much to Lucy's surprise, he began to deflate for lack of a better term until he must have been barely able to scrape Lucy's knees in terms of height. The 'giant' was an in fact an old man clad in an orange and blue jester's outfit, who began pacing around the room holding a relatively thick stack of papers, "This is a list of complaints I've received. Firstly, Cana." The master began, causing the card mage to nearly choke on the glass of wine she had poured for herself when he broke up the fight, "I can understand Sorcerer Weekly wanting to feature you, that does not excuse the fact that you charged your alcohol fees to them."

"Worth it." The card user muttered as Lucy wondered what kind of fees could get Sorcerer Weekly annoyed with a wizard, come to think of it she had never seen the brunette in an issue of the magazine so it seemed that any pictures of her modelling for them hadn't made it to the final cut.

"Next, Gray, good job on clearing out the smuggling operation but you walked around naked in the town afterward and attempted to cover up by stealing clothes off a clothes line."

"Wouldn't it be worse if I was naked though?" Gray questioned.

"Then don't be naked in first place." Loke quipped.

"Loke," The master called up, "You flirted with the granddaughter of councilman Reiji and a talent agency has charged us for damage compensation." The master's admonishment caused Loke to look away sheepishly, "Thankfully, destruction has been kept to a minimum, I'm proud of everyone for that and grateful to some for learning their lesson." He continued, inclining his head towards to Natsu, who simply nodded in response, "That being said, there _is_ a particular event that stuck out among the reports, one that only came through yesterday, Lisanna."

At the master's commanding tone, Lisanna stiffened and began to nervously sweat as she realised she was likely in trouble, "Yes, master Makarov?"

"Despite the fact that Natsu was restricted from taking missions temporarily due to the destruction he could cause, I still allowed him to look into rumours about Igneel and even let him send you to clarify whether or not those rumours were true. I did this because you're arguably one of our least destructive mages, so tell me one thing. _How_ in the world did you manage to beach a luxury yacht on Hargeon's shore and damage a section of the sea wall in process?!"

"Uh… well… you see…" Lisanna fumbled, clearly struggling to come up with an excuse.

"It was me." Lucy spoke up, emerging from her place behind the bar as every pair of eyes in the guild hall was aimed directly at her. Though, now that she had garnered everyone's attention she too was unsure of what to say. Then, Makarov leapt towards the bar, performing an acrobatic feat none would expect of someone his age.

"A newcomer, hmm?" Makarov pondered after he landed in front of Lucy, the serious look he was giving the blonde was clearly making her nervous, that is before he broke into a grin, "Glad to meet you, I'm Makarov, the current master of the Fairy Tail guild. I find it commendable that you stood up to accept responsibility and as well as that it did stop a slave-trading operation the authorities had been struggling to unearth, so in light of that and seeing as you're new I'll let you off." The master said, though he turned away from the blonde to address the rest of the guild, "Like I said, I am glad that the destruction our guild used to cause has largely been reigned in and with that," He began, igniting the documents in his hands and tossing them towards Natsu, who promptly devoured the burning pile. Despite her surprise at the pink-haired-man eating fire, Lucy didn't wish to interrupt Makarov as he continued with his speech, "The guild can continue its existence, there is nothing wrong with doing the right thing but for us to continue doing so, we must follow _some_ guidelines that are set for us. Fairy Tail started as a place for those seeking adventure, and companionship, but over time it developed a second function. It became a place where those without a family could have one, where those without bonds could seek friendship, a place where the thoughts and feelings of its members are as one! That is what it means to be a Fairy Tail mage!" Makarov finished, raising his index finger and thumb above his head so it vaguely resembled an L-shape. Many other guild members followed suit, letting out a chorus of cheers and while Lucy may not have understood the meaning behind the symbol, she cheered just as loudly as any of her more veteran guild mates.

After the commotion had died down, it was time to officially induct Lucy into the guild, "There you go." Makarov said as he removed the stamp from the back of Lucy's right hand, leaving a pink Fairy Tail guild mark on the area.

"Wow!" Lucy said in awe, staring at the insignia that now identified her as an official member of the guild. The blonde decided to track down Lisanna, seeing as the white-haired mage had been the one to get her to the guild, it only made sense to the blonde that she be the first to see the symbol of her membership. Noticing that Lisanna was sitting at a table, Lucy jogged over, though the mutterings of several of her guildmates as she went by didn't escape her attention. Then again, since Lucy had been indirectly responsible for the damage in Hargeon and it had resulted in Bora's capture, it was bound to kick up a fuss, "Lisanna look, I got my guild mark!"

"That's great Lucy!" Her friend agreed enthusiastically.

"Pleasure to meet you Lucy." Mirajane greeted, it was then that Lucy realised that in her haste to find Lisanna she hadn't taken note of the other occupants of the table. As well as Lisanna and Mira, Elfman, Natsu and Happy were also seated at the table.

"Nice to meet you guys too." Lucy replied, receiving a smile from Mirajane, a nod of acknowledgement from Elfman and, a grin and a wave from Natsu, "Wait, you know my name?" She questioned in confusion.

"Of course," The model stated, "Lisanna told us a little bit about you, plus you seem to have made a bit of a splash." She continued.

"I guess I have." Lucy chuckled as she took a seat at the table with her new guildmates.

"So, which of the zodiacs do you have?" Mirajane asked.

Lucy reached for her key pouch and proudly displayed her collection, "I have three, there's Taurus the Golden Bull, Aquarius the Water Bearer and Cancer the Giant Crab." She said, indicating to her spirit's respective keys.

"Hey! No fair Mira!" Cana spoke up, turning the heads of the table's occupants, "Why are you leaving me out of the juicy gossip? And about a new, strong member too!"

"Uh… actually…" Lucy spoke up, directing the attention towards her once again, "I wasn't really the one who beached that ship, it was thanks to my spirit, Aquarius."

"Still though, if you summoned something that could do _that_ , I know I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end." The card mage complimented.

"Yeah," Natsu spoke up, wanting to add his two cents to the conversation, "I've never met one of those celestial guys before but they seem pretty strong, I'd really like to take on that Aquarius spirit some day."

"Natsu, I don't know if realise this but water puts out fire." Happy pointed out with a deadpan expression.

"And fire boils water." Natsu retorted, sticking his tongue out childishly. Lucy chuckled at the interactions between her guildmates, though she prayed for the fire mage's sanity if he was genuinely serious about wanting to fight Aquarius.

"Is my daddy back yet?" A child-like voice asked. The group turned their heads towards the source of the question, the one who asked it being a child who couldn't have been older than six.

"Romeo, I've told you more than enough times, Macao will be back soon."

"But that was a week ago!" The young boy exclaimed, "His job was a at Mount Hakobe, right? It's not far, please, send someone out to look for him!"

"No way! There's no mage here who can't handle himself, now go home and wait for him!" Makarov replied sternly, causing Romeo to begin tearing up.

"Idiot!" The young boy shouted as he punched Makarov square in the face before running off crying.

"That was a little harsh, wasn't it?" Lucy asked.

"The master may be strict, but he's worried about Macao too." Mirajane commented

"Besides, Macao is a real man." Elfman spoke up, "If someone got sent to rescue him it would hurt his pride, master knows that's how it is and he's trying to keep faith that Macao will be okay." After Elfman's explanation, there was a sudden thud, causing the table the group were currently occupying to turn and see that it was Natsu.

"That bastard," Natsu growled as a small but steady stream of smoke began rising from beneath his clenched fists. Lucy was surprised by the young man's outburst, though she couldn't help but notice the looks of understanding he appeared to be receiving from the other members of the group, "He should know that his son comes before his pride and if I have to drag him back kicking and screaming to make him see that then I will." The fire mage continued, standing up and beginning to make his way to the front door, Happy materialised his wings and followed after his friend.

"Natsu," Makarov called out, causing the two to stop, "Your restriction doesn't end until tomorrow."

"I know that gramps." Natsu stated, "But Macao went to fight Vulcans on Mount Hakobe, right? The guild only receives those types of mission when the Vulcans come down to attack merchant caravans or hikers who come too close to it. So, all I need to do is keep any kind of fight to their hiding spot, that way there won't be any damage to nearby towns." Natsu didn't wait for Makarov's answer as he brusquely made his way towards the guild hall doors once again.

"Natsu wait," Lisanna said.

"Don't try to stop me Lis." Natsu said.

"I'm not trying to stop you," The youngest Strauss stated, "I'm coming with you." At his childhood friend's answer, Natsu and Happy grinned.

"Hold up you guys." Cana spoke up, causing the group to pause once again, "If there's more than a few Vulcans, you guys are going to need some backup and, as Macao's drinking buddy, I volunteer myself." With the card mage now included in the group's ranks, the three humans of the rescue team made their way out the door. However, Happy stopped just before the doors as he hovered in the air before turning around.

"Hey Lucy, you wanna come with us?" The blue cat offered.

"Uh…" The blonde replied, taken aback by the suddenness of the ask, especially as she didn't have any prior experience with the missing member unlike the other three.

"You should go with them Lucy." Mirajane suggested encouragingly.

Presented with little time and the model's suggestion, Lucy got up and followed after the group, unsure of where it would lead to.

* * *

A/N: Okay guys here's the end of the chapter, I know it's quite a bit shorter than the previous chapter but for this story part of a chapter for each arc will be used to set up the events of the next chapter, such as fights or even here with presenting who is going to go to retrieve Macao. Anyway guys, thank you all for reading and hopefully I'll see you in the next chapter.


	3. Atop the Snowy Peak

After departing on the mission to rescue Macao, the group had decided to acquire a carriage, seeing as it would be quicker than going on foot. The only delay they experienced was Lisanna asking to go back to the house she shared with her siblings to briefly pack a few supplies, which wasn't much since the group didn't expect to be up the mountain for more than a day. Currently, their mode of transport was making steady progress up the mountainside. However, not everyone was enjoying the relatively pleasant pacing of the journey, "He really gets sick doesn't he?" Lucy asked as she observed Natsu's slumped over form, the dragon-slayer had gone pale from his motion sickness, all he could offer the blonde in way of response was a sickly groan.

"Why don't you try to get some rest?" Lisanna, who was sitting next to the fire-user suggested kindly.

Natsu was able to give a weak nod as he lay his head down on her lap and proceeded to fall asleep as Lisanna gently ran her fingers through his hair, which seemed to be surprisingly soft despite its appearance on first glance. Lucy couldn't help but find the tender interaction between the two friends adorable, "Are you and Natsu...?" Lucy asked the youngest Strauss, her implication immediately being made clear.

A light pink hue adorned Lisanna's cheeks at the question, "No." She answered, at the reply Cana coughed though Lucy could have sworn she heard a discreet 'not yet' thrown in. Thankfully, Lisanna hadn't picked up on Cana's subtle tease.

"So...?" Lucy began in order to steer the conversation away from the current state of the two's relationship, "This person Igneel, the one who taught Natsu his magic, looks like a dragon?"

"You're right about the magic but Igneel doesn't look like a dragon, he is a dragon!" Happy corrected.

Lucy balked at the seemingly absurd statement, "You mean an actual dragon?" She stated in disbelief.

"Did we forget to mention that?" Lisanna asked.

"Yes, you did."

"Sorry," The youngest Strauss chuckled sheepishly, "In fact, it's partly why Natsu was so mad when Makarov didn't send anyone to look for Romeo." At Lucy's questioning look, Lisanna continued, "When Natsu was little, Igneel found him in the forest. He taught him about language, culture, how to read and, as you already know, his magic. But one day, he just disappeared, Natsu has been searching for him ever since. If I had to guess, I think Natsu doesn't want Romeo to experience growing up without a father."

"I see." Lucy said, her tone sympathetic to the fire mage, though no one noticed a briefly downcast expression cross Cana's features.

Suddenly, the carriage pulled to a stop, "Sorry friends, this is as far as I can take you." The carriage driver informed the group, the sudden stop being able to rouse Natsu from his sleep.

At that, Lucy was puzzled, seeing as they hadn't made it too far up the mountain. Though she was just as confused when Cana produced a card, there was a flash, and suddenly she was dressed in a thick orange parka with equally as thick boots and gloves. Why her friend was putting on such a thick article of clothing in the height of summer was beyond Lucy, that is until the card user opened the doors and she as well as the other occupants were greeted by a sudden arctic blast. Though the chill didn't seem to faze anyone but herself and Lisanna, due to the nature of his magic Natsu practically had a built-in heater, Happy was likely kept warm by his fur and Cana had clearly produced reliable protection from the chill.

"Why is it snowing? It's the middle of summer!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise as she stepped out despite the buffeting storm.

"It's always cold on the peak of Mount Hakobe, so it snows a lot!" Happy exclaimed as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

"I didn't know that." Lucy commented dryly with a deadpan expression.

"If you want Lucy, you can have the blanket." Lisanna offered, taking it out of the pack she had assembled, without so much as a split second, Lucy greedily took the blanket. Despite the fact that it wasn't perfect, it was better than nothing on the freezing slopes. Though, Lucy soon felt guilty as the youngest Strauss now had no protection from the current climate.

"Are you sure you don't need this?" Lucy asked.

"Nope!" Lisanna grinned assuredly, her form beginning to glow, shrinking so she was only Happy's size, revealing that she now took on the form of a small penguin, "Now I don't feel cold at all!" The youngest Strauss exclaimed.

Lucy had to resist the urge to tackle her transformed friend in her now cute form as their carriage pulled away. However, they would need to advance further into the mountains and Lucy was now the only member of their party without suitable protection from the raging blizzard and biting cold. That is until she got an idea, whipping out one of her silver keys with a clock face on it, "Open, Gate of the Clock: Horologium!"

At her command a tall grandfather clock-like spirit with roman numerals on the clock face, a small moustache with twirls on the ends and what seemed to be permanently closed eyes appeared. Lucy immediately opening the door just underneath the spirit's face, the blonde was still able to be seen after clambering in, courtesy of the door frame being filled by clear glass. Despite now having a shelter of sorts from the elements, the blonde still snuggled into the blanket provided for her for warmth, "A clock?" Happy wondered.

"That's really cool." Cana commented.

"Nice and warm actually, she says." The clock spirit iterated for his key holder, the blonde's mouth was clearly moving, however her new protection seemed to be soundproofed. With all of them prepared, the group set off for their search in the snow-filled mountains.

"So what exactly is a Vulcan? She inquires curiously." Horologium spoke up after the group had trekked through the blizzard for a while with no success in finding Macao.

"Big monkeys that live on the mountaintops, Fairy Tail gets asked to deal with them a lot up here since we're pretty close to Mount Hakobe." Natsu explained briefly. Suddenly, the fire mage stopped, holding his hand up to signal for the others to do the same. Despite the conditions making it difficult to see far in front, it was clear Natsu was sniffing the air as he tried to identify a particular scent.

The others looked around anxiously, if the new scent Natsu had picked up was that of an enemy, it could come from any conceivable direction and the group wouldn't realise it before the threat was almost directly on top them. Cana glanced at the ground briefly but it was enough time to notice something, a shadow that was steadily growing larger and that could only mean one thing.

"Above us!" The card user warned, allowing herself, Natsu, and Lisanna a chance to jump away, Horologium however, couldn't move in time to avoid the creature that came crashing down. Subsequently, the clock spirit was roughly thrown back along with his occupant.

"'What was that?!' She exclaims in surprise." Horologium said.

"That," Lisanna answered as the veil of snow kicked up by the landing began to clear, revealing a white-furred gorilla-like creature, "Is a Vulcan."

As soon as she stated this, the Vulcan began to screech and thump its chest in a territorial display, glaring at each of the group however it stopped once its gaze fell on the still-downed Horologium. With speed that seemed uncanny for a creature of its size, it made its way over to the clock spirit and gained a lecherous grin once he realised Lucy was trapped outside. All the blonde could do was try to shrink back as she couldn't defend herself against the beast in her current position. Hoisting the two onto a shoulder, the Vulcan proceeded to run off into the raging storm, "Help me! She wails in desperation." The group heard Horologium say as he was carried off alongside his master.

Using Natsu's sense of smell to track the Vulcan, the group eventually arrived at a cave, the inside of which was made entirely out of ice. Lisanna changed back to normal once they were at the entrance, since her combat boots would give her a much better grip than the webbed feet of her penguin form. They also left the pack at the mouth of the cave. As they advanced through the passage, they could hear the triumphant giggles of the Vulcan as it admired its new prize.

Lucy was still huddled within the clock spirit, thankfully protected from the perverse monkey that had captured her. At that moment, Horologium disappeared in a puff of smoke, "Wait Horologium don't go, please!" Lucy shrieked.

"I'm sorry but my time is up…" The spirit apologised, his voice gradually fading with each word, though it didn't ease Lucy's nerves that he used a pun as he was going back to the celestial spirit world.

"Woman." The Vulcan grinned, the smirk he had before now had a look of malice as he got ready to pounce on Lucy, with the blonde reacting by reaching for her key pouch.

"Hey monkey!" Natsu roared, causing Lucy to breathe a sigh of relief and the Vulcan to be distracted, "Where's my fri- woah!" The Dragon Slayer began but due to his charge towards the cave's inhabitant he slipped on the ice, causing him to go skidding into a stalagmite made of ice. Lucy looked at the comical display in sheer disbelief, Cana, Lisanna and Happy sighed in mild exasperation whereas the Vulcan just seemed to be confused.

Despite his collision with the thick ice formation, Natsu sprung to his feet, "Alright now where's my friend?" The fire mage demanded, pointing a finger at the Vulcan to make sure it understood that the question was addressed towards it. The ape tilted its head, clearly not understanding what was being asked of it, "His name is Macao, a human man with dark blue hair, now tell me where he is!"

"Man..?" The Vulcan pondered, placing a hand on his chin in a thoughtful pose, "Ooh, man there." The Vulcan answered, indicating to a hole in the wall of the cave big enough for a person to fit through.

"Really? Thanks!" Natsu said as he went over to investigate, looking out into the sea of white. Given the colouration of the landscape, Natsu was sure he would be able to see the top of his dark-haired friend even through the roaring blizzard. A sudden force exerted on his back and then the sound of the Vulcan laughing triumphantly made the Dragon Slayer realise too late that he had been tricked, "You damn ape!" He roared as he plummeted towards the ground, Lucy soon running over to where the Vulcan (who had now proceeded to start doing a victory dance) had pushed him from.

"Natsu!" She shouted with worry, unable to see her companion's mop of pink hair.

"Happy you know what to do." Lisanna ordered, the flying cat gave a nod of understanding as he flew through the hole Natsu was pushed through.

Steeling herself as she noted the Vulcan celebrating the apparent demise of her friend, Lucy stood up, casting of the blanket with a look of conviction and reached for her key pouch. She pulled out one of her golden keys shaped like a battle-axe, "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" At her beckoning, a humanoid bull with a battle-axe almost as big as he was emerged from the ground with a bellowing moo, "Taurus is my strongest melee spirit, you don't stand a chance!" The blonde declared boastfully.

"Hey miss Lucy, if I do this for ya, do I get smoooch?" The celestial spirit asked with a looks not too dissimilar to the Vulcan's, minus the malicious intent of course.

"And he's a pervert too." The blonde self-berated in exasperation as she face-palmed.

"No touch my woman, cow!" The Vulcan shouted, instantly grabbing the attention of the walking zodiac sign.

"Cow?! Those are fightin' words ya overgrown tamarin!" Taurus challenged as he unsheathed his weapon, and brought the axe down in a vertical slash, splintering the ground in a fissure-like formation that made a beeline for the creature. The Vulcan leapt out of the way of the attack and rushed at the celestial spirit, with the bipedal bull taking a fighting stance, getting ready to swing at his opponent. That is until he briefly turned his head to his left with a brief look of surprise registering on his features as he was struck by a flame-covered fist.

"So you push me off the side of a mountain just so you could grapple with some bull monster?" The Dragon Slayer asked, "I'll still help deal with the monkey, but the bull is gonna cost Macao some of the reward."

"The bull was my friend dummy, one of my spirits." The blonde explained angrily through gritted teeth.

"Oh," Natsu said, "Sorry." Though, Natsu's apology did little to help the situation as Taurus had slipped into unconsciousness.

"Wait a minute, how come you got sick when you were in the carriage but didn't when you were carried by Happy?" Lucy asked.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked in response, looking shocked, almost offended by the blonde's question, "Happy isn't some mode of transport he's my friend."

With the fire-user's attention diverted, the Vulcan took the opportunity to sneak-attack him but before he could bring his fist down he was struck by three cards, which promptly exploded on impact. The ape quickly recovered and snarled in rage as it noticed Cana holding additional cards between her fingers and sporting a cocky grin. As it rushed at the card mage it was now Lisanna's turn to step in as she enveloped in light. Strangely, she turned with her back facing the charging creature.

The Vulcan didn't care that its target had now changed and proceeded to lash out at the take-over user. There was a reverberating clang accompanied by a mixed cry of agony and confusion from the Vulcan. Lisanna had transformed so that she now wore an outfit that resembled a one-piece, black bathing suit, however the only skin that was exposed was one her arms and legs up to the elbows and knees respectively. Everything below after those points had changed so that black fur covered the underside of her arms, and completely covered her legs accompanied by paw pads that had formed on the palms and soles with small, hooked claws that had replaced her nails; the upper side of her arms had grown white quills that were currently flattened. A small tail had grown from her lower back, with the same pattern as her arms, black fur with white quills. However, the most drastic change Lisanna had undergone was the much larger quills that now covered her upper and middle back with some having formed around the tail on her lower back, like the ones on the tail and arms they had been flattened, seemingly done to create a shield-like layer.

"That's the partial version of Lisanna's Take-Over: Porcupine Soul." Happy explained to Lucy, "By flattening her quills, she can form an incredibly protective layer that's difficult to break through and if she wants she can raise them for more aggression when defending or even shoot the ones on her back. It's her ultimate defence!"

"I'm gonna smash you like the man I got before!" The Vulcan bellowed, no permanent damage seemed to have been done to its hand but the fact that the ape was still clutching it whilst glaring daggers at Lisanna proved that it was still painful, the echo of its roar bouncing off the cave walls.

"Guys, we can't afford to seriously hurt him." Lisanna spoke up to her friends.

"Why not Lis?" Natsu asked.

"Vulcan's are known to use take-over magic, if Macao is supposed to be here but he's nowhere in sight, then the Vulcan must have taken over him. In other words, that Vulcan _is_ Macao!" The youngest Strauss explained.

"So are best bet is to try and subdue him." Cana stated, receiving a nod from the white-haired woman. It was then that the group heard a cackle from the Vulcan, they turned to see the monkey-like creature now had a hold of Taurus's weapon, displaying a grin like he'd just stepped out of a slasher flick.

"Taurus, go back!" Lucy shrieked as she frantically tried to wake up her spirit, desperate to send the weapon back with him but to no avail as all she received in response was some incoherent mumbling.

The Vulcan rushed forward with the battle-axe in hand, swinging the double-bladed weapon in a mad, uncoordinated manner. Yet everyone in the group silently agreed that getting in the way of the frenzied assault would be far too dangerous to get in the way of. Cana threw a series of cards, as if aiming to hit their opponent but they wound up flying past the ape.

With a confident battle cry, the Vulcan rushed towards Lisanna, who managed to deflect the blow with the flattened quills on her left arm, though the force behind the blow was enough for her to stagger backwards. The take-over mage managed to get onto all fours in time to avoid a horizontal slash that could very well have bisected her had the attack been successful. Taking her opportunity, the youngest Strauss bristled the quills on her back, pointing them forward to form a blockade of sharp points. The specialised hairs began to vibrate, confusing the Vulcan for a moment, he was barely able to avoid the attack when the quills surprisingly shot from their position. The salvo forced the Vulcan to back off as he avoided the projectiles, he continued to back away until three small rectangular shapes lit up, surrounding the monkey-like creature.

The Vulcan doubled over, "Dizzy…" It mumbled, dropping the axe in the process, the cards Cana had thrown previously having their desired effect once the ape fell into the card user's trap.

"Sorry to do this to you Macao." Natsu said apologetically as he approached the groaning Vulcan, "But if kicking your ass is the only way to help you out, then I'll do it." He continued, leaping at his friend with flame-encased limbs and punching him square in the face, causing him to stagger back, out of the range of Cana's spell, "You're my friend, the same as Lisanna, Cana and Happy." Natsu kneed him in the chin hard enough to lift him off the ground, "Just like gramps, and those jerks Elfman, Gray, and Loke. Even Lucy, who only joined the guild this morning." The blonde was flattered by the dragon-slayer's declaration as said guild member leapt into the air and let out one final statement, "So that's why I'm telling you right now, come back to us!" He roared as he brought down his leg in an axe kick, sending the Vulcan crashing to the ground, forming a crater in the icy floor.

As Natsu landed, the group slowly approached the now unconscious animal just in case it was only feigning its condition. They all let out a sigh of relief and relaxed as light surrounded the Vulcan's body and it began to shrink into a human shape. It revealed a scruffy man, and exactly as Natsu said, with purple hair. The group soon realised however, that Macao looked considerably roughed up. His clothing was badly torn and underneath the damaged clothes, bruising and cuts could be seen. Worried, Lisanna switched from her Porcupine Soul to her Jackrabbit Soul and rushed towards the mouth of the cave to retrieve the pack as it had a first aid kit in it.

After stripping him of everything but his undergarments, and under Lisanna's instruction, the three women of the group were able to patch him up whilst Natsu raised his body heat to keep his fellow fire-mage warm. After what seemed like forever, Macao finally stirred though he still seemed groggy, with his half-lidded eyes landing on Lucy.

"I didn't think I'd have a beautiful, blonde angel waiting for me in heaven." Macao said with a friendly smile.

"Uh…" Lucy said in a somewhat awkward tone.

"You're not dead you old fart." Cana spoke up for the celestial wizard.

"Cana," Macao said, his smile disappearing and almost seeming disappointed with the outcome as he opened his eyes fully and glanced around the ice cave, "So I'm really not six feet under."

"Damn right you're not, and you won't be for a long time since there's someone you need to see when we get back home." Natsu said.

"Romeo," Macao said, not needing to be told who Natsu was implying as he covered his eyes with his hands, "How am I supposed to tell him I took on nineteen Vulcans, only to be done in by the twentieth?"

"He should be proud of his dad." Lucy stated, "If you really were able to take on that many on your own then I know I would be."

"Well aren't you a charmer," The purple-haired wizard chuckled and continued as he noticed her guild mark, "A new member if I had to guess, what's your name?"

"It's Lucy, nice to meet you."

* * *

It was evening time back in Magnolia, Romeo waited on the steps to his house, crying. It was he who had convinced his dad to go out on the mission after being insulted by some older boys over being the son of a mage. They had claimed all wizards did was party and get drunk, several had bragged about how their fathers were guard or soldier, how they 'actually' protected people. Now, thanks to his insistence his father was missing, possibly worse and even though a group had gone out looking for him, there would be no way to tell if he would really come back alright.

"Hey, Romeo, look what we found!" He heard Natsu call, the young boy turned his head and for a minute couldn't believe it.

"Dad!" He cried out gleefully once he was sure it wasn't a dream, he was only in his shoes and pants with a bandaged up chest, and needed to be supported by Natsu, but he was _alive_ , "I'm sorry, if I hadn't said anything, you wouldn't have got hurt." He continued tearfully.

"Hey there kiddo," Macao said in a comforting tone, "No need to worry, everything is alright now." At his father's statement, Romeo looked up to see his dad grinning as he came down to eye level with his son, "And next time you see those kids ask them this: Can your dad take on nineteen monsters? Then have his friends take care of the rest?" At this, the group left the father and son to their happy reunification.

As they continued up the street they heard Romeo shout, "You guys, thanks for saving my dad!" Lucy looked back and smiled as she waved at the duo.

If this was just her first day, she couldn't wait to see what the coming days with her guild would bring her!


	4. Mission: Infiltrate the Everlue Mansion

It was now Lucy's second day as a member of Fairy Tail, the blonde had just arrived at the guild hall after making plans to go on a mission with Lisanna, Natsu and Happy. After their successful rescue of Macao, Makarov had been informed and despite his attitude previously, he was thankful for Macao's safe return, and decided not to extend Natsu's restrictions, hence the reason for their plans. A whistle drew Lucy's attention as she entered the building, turning to its source, she saw it was Natsu sitting down with the other members of their group.

"Are you ready?" Lisanna asked once Lucy made her way over to the table, with the blonde givng an eager nod in response. Since the rescue yesterday wasn't an official mission, the one they would select from the bulletin board where mission posters were hung up would be Lucy's first on behalf of the guild, "We figured that since it's your first time, we'd let you pick the mission." Lisanna explained.

"Yeah," Natsu spoke up, "Maybe pick a retrieval mission that pays really well." Lucy gave him a knowing smirk since the fire mage was clearly alluding to something.

The celestial wizard scanned the various requests, ranging from mundane tasks such as package deliveries and fruit picking to more dangerous missions more often than not involving the capture of a small-time crook or low-risk monster extermination. After a few minutes of her unyielding thoughtful expression, Natsu finally spoke up, "See any that you like?"

"Any suggestions?" The blonde asked in response, hoping her more experienced comrade could pick out something suitable for them to go on or in all likelihood the request he'd not-so-subtly mentioned.

"The bottom left." The Dragon Slayer responded.

Lucy looked to where her friend indicated, needless to say her eyes nearly bulged out of her head once she saw the size of the reward, two-hundred thousand jewels. Once split four ways, it would cover a good portion of the rent on her apartment. "Please help," Lucy read from the mission description, just to see what kind of job would prompt such a reward, "The Duke of Shirotsume town, Everlue holds possession of the book Daybreak, an obscure work of author Kemu Zaleon. Everlue is a corrupt and evil man, the book must be destroyed at all costs! Client, Kaby Melon." Lucy grinned at this, the job sounded too easy for the amount of money being offered, however she noticed a section just underneath the description, "P.S. Everlue is pervert currently looking to hire a blonde maid…" The celestial wizard stopped reading at that, now her eagerness to go on the job had greatly diminished as well as a possible reason for why Natsu had suggested it.

Lisanna cast a slightly disapproving look at Natsu before she decided to add on, "We don't have to go on it if you don't want to."

"It's fine," Lucy sighed in exasperation, "If he tries anything, I'll just have to summon one of my spirits, besides even if the reward is split four ways it's still good for something as simple as burning a book."

Though Lisanna seemed to have her reservations concerning Lucy's involvement, she didn't voice them out of respect for her only female teammate wanting to go. As the four turned around, they were met by another group, a trio to be exact, two quite tall men and a petite, blue-haired woman, "Hi Lisanna." The woman greeted in a familiar tone.

"Hey Levy, Jet, Droy." The youngest Strauss greeted, "You guys are going to take a mission?" She inquired curiously.

"That's right, we were thinking of taking the Daybreak job." Levy explained, though she took a brief look at the board, noticing it was no longer there, the fact that the four in front of her had stiffened and finally, at the poster in Lucy's hand, "That's it isn't it?" The blue-haired woman asked, clearly referencing the sheet of paper.

"Yeah…" Lucy said awkwardly, though she felt guilty upon seeing Levy's disappointed expression, "You can have it if you want." She stated, holding it out for Levy to take, her fellow guild member giving her a thankful look though as she reached for the parchment it was quickly snatched away by a certain Dragon Slayer.

"No way, Droy here owes me a favour, and it's time for him to pay up." Natsu stated, the black-haired man of the trio appeared confused before his eyes widened in realisation.

"Really?! You're using that _now_? It's been months!" He stated incredulously.

"And what did you say when we agreed you owed me one?" Natsu retorted.

Droy huffed at that before he began his repetition of what he had apparently said, "I'm really sorry I tried to use her for my own benefits, ask for anything, anything at all and I'll do it within reason. You only made me say it about a hundred times."

" _Exactly."_ Natsu said as he waved the mission poster triumphantly, "Pleasure doing business with you. And… sorry Levy, Jet." He apologised.

"No hard feelings Natsu." Levy assured the fire user, allowing him to depart with Happy in tow.

"Lucy, I'll catch up with Natsu, can you let Cana know we're going on a job?" Lisanna asked, the blonde nodded, allowing the youngest Strauss to go on her merry way, casting an apologetic look to the trio opposite them.

"So you're the famous the Lucy?" The petite woman asked, causing Lucy to do a double take.

"Famous?" The blonde questioned.

"Well yeah, word travels fast, according to Mira you beached a yacht in Hargeon and before we arrived at the guild from a mission yesterday you and a few others went out and successfully rescued Macao." Jet stated, "Stuff like that is bound to make a new recruit well-known."

"I guess you're right," The blonde chuckled sheepishly, "And sorry about the mission."

"No worries," Levy responded, "I just wanted to take that mission because books are sort of my specialty."

"Oh, do you like to read?" The blonde asked, the blue-haired woman nodded eagerly and the celestial wizard could tell from the hopeful look she had that the same question was being addressed towards her, "I'm actually in the process of writing a novel."

"Really?!" Levy asked enthusiastically, "Can I read it?"

Despite the flattery, Lucy was unsure. Even though she was an aspiring novelist, her self-confidence in her writing wasn't the greatest, "Actually, I'm not sure, if I want anyone to read it…"

"Why not?" Jet questioned, "What's the point in writing something no one's going to read?"

"It's fine Jet." Levy assured her friend, "If you change your mind, just let me know, I'm no expert but I could help editing if you need it. If not, just ask if you need us to show you the ropes."

"Thanks!" The blonde said appreciatively, "I might just take you up on that offer." With that, Lucy made her way over to Cana, the brunette had a frothy mug of beer in one hand with a thick leather-bound book on the bar next to her.

"I didn't realise you were an archivist?" Lucy questioned, gaining the older woman's attention.

"I'm not normally, Mira is usually the one who keeps the records, but she's away on a few simple errand jobs around Magnolia, so I'm left to look after the books." Cana explained, "So, you going on a mission with Natsu and Lis?"

"Yeah," Lucy answered, "Though I'm not sure how much use I'll be if things get rough." She continued somewhat regretfully as she remembered she hardly did anything against the Vulcan from the rescue.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure Taurus is actually pretty strong, it's not his fault Natsu is a dumbass." Her senior Fairy Tail mage grinned at her, lightening the blonde's spirit. She noticed Gray strutting around in his boxers, whether he was oblivious to it or just didn't care Lucy couldn't be sure. Meanwhile, Loke had two different women from yesterday at either side of him, one of them was drawn to Gray's aloof stride, until Loke whispered something in her ear that caused her to giggle and turn her attention away from the ice mage and back to Loke. Lucy rolled her eyes at the display but didn't think much of it.

"Are those two girls part of the guild?" Lucy asked.

"Nope, just Loke's latest arm candy." The card mage replied, "It's kind of an unspoken rule among the Fairy Tail girls Loke is willing to date that you don't accept any offers of from him no matter what. He's persistent, and though he's a good guy at heart, it's unlikely he'll give up without a fight and believe me, some of us have gladly obliged him, sometimes on more than one occasion." After sharing a chuckle, Lucy bid her friend farewell to meet up with Natsu and Lisanna, soon enough the four were on their way to Shirotsume town via train from Magnolia's station.

* * *

"I'm never getting on another train again." Natsu stated, the green colouration as a result of his motion sickness still needing to disappear.

"You always say that." Happy retorted, "And you know, we wouldn't have needed to do it if Lucy had a way to fly."

"Are you insinuating this is my fault?" Lucy asked the cat in comical disbelief.

"Food," The fire user drooled, interrupting the two after getting a whiff of the cooking from the nearby café, "You guys want to come with?" He asked his female companions.

"Thanks Natsu, but I think I'll take a look around, I've only ever passed through Shirotsume Town on missions so I've never gotten a good enough view of the place." Lisanna said.

"I'm not really that hungry, I think I'll go with Lisanna." Lucy stated, the Dragon Slayer seemed mildly disappointed, but he didn't voice any protests as the two women walked off and left him alone with Happy.

Lisanna and Lucy spent most of their time together admiring the sights that Shirotsume Town's shopping plaza had to offer, window shopping and in general walking around, "So what was up between Droy and Natsu this morning?" Lucy asked her fellow guild mate in hopes she could shed some light on the subject that had prompted Droy's reaction.

Lisanna chuckled in amusement, "The thing is, Jet and Droy are both head over heels for Levy, as a result they're involved in a rivalry that she seems completely oblivious to." The youngest Strauss explained, "Once, Droy attempted to get Levy jealous and he thought trying to date me would be the best way to do that."

"Trying?" Lucy prompted with an amused smirk.

"Natsu and I are childhood friends, probably his closest behind Happy, when he caught wind of what Droy was going to do… well let's just say Natsu called him out on his bluff. For a month after, Elfman and Natsu kept singling him out whenever there was a brawl involving them." Lisanna answered, causing Lucy to snicker, "The worst part is, Droy apparently ran at least part of his plan through with Levy from a 'what if' stand point afterwards and she said to both him and Jet that she would just be happy for them."

"Aw, the poor guys." Lucy said, though even she had to admit that the situation was somewhat comical.

After that the two fell into a content silence, sitting down on a bench together, "Hey Lucy, you know how I mentioned I knew only a little bit about celestial magic back in Hargeon?" Lisanna asked, at the blonde's nod, the youngest Strauss continued, "How do celestial wizards… ally themselves with spirits?"

"That's pretty simple," The blonde began, "We just summon the spirit from its key and we arrange times and dates for when they're free, if you want I can show you tomorrow morning? I still need to arrange a contract with a silver key spirit I got in Hargeon, bring along Natsu and Happy if you want."

"I'd like that," Lisanna smiled, "And speaking of those two, we should probably get back to them before they rack up a huge food bill." Lucy nodded in agreement, however she stopped in her tracks as she noticed Lisanna looking at a particular outfit on display in a costume shop, one that could help out quite a bit for their mission.

"You mind if we head in and buy that?"

Meanwhile, at the café where Natsu and Happy were situated, the duo was tearing into their food, meat for Natsu and fish for Happy. Though their messy eating habits were garnering much disgust from their fellow patrons, the only reason they hadn't been kicked out by the owner was due to the sheer amount of food the two had ordered.

"Hi boys~" A pair of familiar voices to the two spoke up in coy tones, the duo turned to see both Lucy and Lisanna taking matching cute poses, winking at them and dressed in maid outfits. Lisanna had changed her hair colour so it was platinum-blonde and held in a medium-height ponytail. Upon seeing their shocked expressions, the two women burst out laughing.

"You were right, they _do_ look hilarious when they're surprised!" Lucy managed to get out through her giggle-fit.

"Told you." Lisanna said even with her own laughter.

"Are you guys wearing that for the mission?" Happy questioned.

"Yeah," Lisanna answered, "We figured it would be easier to infiltrate the mansion if there were two blonde maids offering their services," She explained and with a grin continued, "Plus we just wanted to mess with you guys." The two chuckled as they were able to see the comedy of the situation.

After paying the bill, the group departed and were now approaching an elaborate mansion, Natsu giving an impressed whistle at the sight of it. As they got closer, the four noticed an tall, elderly man in a business suit, "Are you the Fairy Tail mages?" He asked as they stopped in front of the stone archway that was the entrance to the property, after revealing their guild marks, he greeted them properly, "I'm the client, Kaby Melon, please come inside." Lucy was briefly pensive as they entered the home, silently swearing that Kaby's name was familiar to her somehow, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The group sat down opposite to Kaby, "Now to tell you about the job, as the request explained, I want you to find the book Daybreak in Duke Everlue's possession and then destroy it."

"Can I ask why sir?" Lucy asked as it was odd there would be such a reward for a simple task like this.

"What does it matter if it's for two-hundred thousand jewel?" Natsu questioned in confusion.

"Actually," Kaby interrupted, "The reward has been raised to two million." The massive leap in what the reward would pay naturally invoked a comical reaction from all four members of the group.

"All of the fish I could buy…" Happy drooled and given Natsu's rather similar reaction, it was easy to tell they were having practically the same daydream. Meanwhile Lucy was thinking of how many times her rent could be paid if she counted in the expenses of other basic necessities.

Lisanna was the first to break out of the avarice-induced stupor as well as her own visions of opening a small petting zoo with her take of the money, "If that's the case, we could split it four ways, five-hundred thousand each!" The take-over mage's statement calling her teammates back to reality.

"Apologies, I thought you already knew." Kaby stated, gaining the full attention of the four, "I raised the reward… because it would mean that much to me to see that book in ashes." The Fairy Tail wizards noticing that the old man who had greeted them so kindly had tensed up in rage, "However," He continued, relaxing, "You must understand that other wizards came before you, I don't know how, but Everlue had them killed and covered their deaths up. I completely understand if you wish to back out now."

The four looked between each other in apprehension until Natsu spoke up, "Let's do it and if we can, we'll kill two birds with one stone and bring this Everlue guy in." The Dragon Slayer's statement bolstered the other group member's resolve.

"Thank you, and please, be safe." Kaby thanked, as soon as the group exited the house after setting off, Kaby muttered to himself, "Daybreak, it must be destroyed at all costs."

Lisanna and Lucy approached the thick steel gates of Everlue's mansion that looked more like they belonged on a bank vault rather than a gateway to a mansion, with Natsu and Happy concealed in the bushes nearby. Though unlike Kaby's residence it rose high and was shaded pink, making it look garish in comparison to the rest of Shirotsume Town. Seeing there was nothing outside that could be used to contact the residence from the gates, Lucy called out, "Excuse me, we heard you were looking to hire maids?" There was a brief pause until there was a cracking sound, the cobblestones on the street had begun cracking with a small mound forming as if something was pushing upwards. Eventually, something large did burst from the earth and came back down to the ground with a loud thud.

What had emerged was a stocky, muscular woman also clad in a maid outfit who rose nearly twice as big as the two women. The woman looked human enough, but her size alone spoke volumes about either some remarkably good genes or she wasn't necessarily human, "I presume you're here to see the master about the ad in the papers?" The newcomer spoke up a very deep voice.

"Yes, that would be us, may we please see the master?" Lisanna asked in a sweet tone, right on cue another mound developed underneath the cobbles. From it emerged a rotund man dressed in a business suit with a large yellow button on it, he seemed to be balding yet kept the hairs still left on it in such a style that it barely covered up his baldness, though a rather disgusting feature about the duke was the fact that he had somehow styled his nose hairs into a pseudo-moustache.

"Did somebody say master?" Everlue declared, clearly his way of making an entrance, "Now let's take a look at you two." He said and despite his beady eyes boring into the two creepily, both Lucy and Lisanna managed to maintain their composure. That is until Everlue said something that neither of the two women expected to hear, "Thanks but I think I'll pass, both of you are too ugly." Naturally, the statement caused the two to go into a state of disbelief but that wasn't the end of it as Everlue continued, "You see a man like me has very high standards to uphold." Snapping his fingers, four more maids appeared from the earth, each even more hideous than the last.

"Yeah, now get lost." The first maid said as she hoisted the two women up effortlessly in their state of shock and quite literally throwing them into the bushes. Thankfully, Natsu caught Lisanna and Happy was able to grab Lucy before she hit the ground.

"I can't believe it!" Lucy shouted angrily after she broke out of her shock, "That old bastard wouldn't know beauty if it hit him like a truck full of cement!" She ranted whilst Lisanna just sat curled up against a tree and sulking. The youngest Strauss wasn't particularly vain but still being called ugly stung.

"Looks like it's time for Plan B." Natsu said, causing Lisanna to look up, "We tried the easy way, now we get in the hard way."

"Yeah, that jerk is going to pay for this!" Lucy stated with determination, little did the two realise that hidden in the treetops was a crystal ball, projecting the image of the group of wizards to Everlue himself.

"So we have another group of wizards," He stated, "It seems these are from Fairy Tail, no matter, that first group of wizards couldn't get through my defences and neither will these, Vanish Brothers prepare yourselves."

The group's next plan was for Lisanna to turn into a dove, flew up to the roof and chirped to let her teammates know the coast was clear. Happy flew Natsu and then Lucy up to the roof, where the fire user set to work melting the glass on a window pane, unlocking it after reaching through the damaged glass. After entering the mansion, the group were forced to search practically every room, though none that they searched even contained a bookshelf or any books. Eventually they worked their way down to a foyer with a gold statue of Everlue, there was a set of double doors the four pushed them open and into a giant library.

"Who knew Everlue was such a bookworm?" Lucy muttered, the four split up to search for their intended target. It took a while after sifting through several tomes that they had to restrain themselves from reading as they aligned with their interests.

"Guys, I found it!" Lisanna stated, after searching for quite a while and desperately attempting to resist reading any books that aligned with their interests, her fellow guild mates regrouping with her on the floor. It was clearly identifiable due to the yellow cover of the book and the big black letters spelling out Daybreak on the front.

"Awesome, let's light it up!" Natsu stated eagerly.

"Wait a minute," Lucy said as she saw the name of the author, "Of course! It said the author's name was Kemu Zaleon, an anagram for Zekua Melon, a famous author and wizard. I thought I'd read every one of his novels, could this be one that wasn't released to the public?" She asked as she held the book.

"Something's fishy," Natsu said, "Not literally Happy." He said as he noticed the blue cat's hopeful look, "If this is a unique book by some big-shot author, why would Kaby want it to be destroyed?"

Before the group could speculate, Everlue's voice resounded throughout the room, "So Daybreak is what you pilfering wizards were after boyoyo?" He emerged from the ground, "I don't know why you would want such a book, it's barely good enough for kindling." Lucy was confused as to why the duke would speak that way about a book written by such an author.

"Then I suppose you won't mind if we take it?" Lucy asked, though her tone indicated they would do so regardless of Everlue's answer.

"It may be a repugnant piece of literature, but it's still _mine_ you won't have it!" The corrupt politician said indignantly.

"Can I at least read it first?" Lucy asked, she didn't wait for an answer as she flipped the tome open.

"You're seriously reading that now!" The other four occupants of the room shouted comically, Everlue however reverted to an aggressive state of mind.

"A man like me will not be underestimated, least of all by a group of lowly wizards. Come forth, Vanish Brothers!" The corrupt politician exclaimed, two book cases split apart to reveal a hidden hallway, standing at the entrance to which was a pair of men.

"You called upon us sir." The shortest of the two with his hair tied back into a braided ponytail said.

"Allow us to show these Fairy Tail punks who's in charge around here." The tallest of the two added.

"They're from the Southern Wolves guild, they're mercenaries!" Happy exclaimed as he recognized the insignia the two bore.

"Boyoyo, the Southern Wolves are always hungry for fresh meat, say your prayers thieves!" Everlue stated.

"Guys, I don't know what it is but I think that there's some kind of secret hidden in the book." Lucy said.

"Alright, you guys leave these two to me." Natsu answered, igniting his fists as a demonstration to his enemies that he was not to be taken lightly, leaving his companions to exit the room.

"Give me back my book!" Everlue roared as he disappeared down the same hole he popped out of.

"A fire mage?" The shortest of the two Vanish Brothers said in an amused, condescending tone, "We are trained to deal with your kind, you don't stand a chance!" He continued, with that the opposing parties leapt towards each other.

As Lisanna, Lucy and Happy exited the library, they were greeted to the sight of the five maids from before in front of the Everlue statue, "Intruder alert Miss Virgo!" The four smaller maids shouted in unison, despite the fact that she was holding Daybreak, Lucy made one step forward. However, Lisanna put her arm out in front of her, "Lucy, you need to find the secret of that book, I'll handle this, Happy go with her." The take-over user stated.

"Are you going to be okay?" Lucy asked with slight worry in her tone, her friend simply gave her a reassuring smile, convincing Lucy and Happy to depart. The white-haired mage turned back to her opponents.

The largest of the maids spoke up, "Under master Everlue's orders, we are to retrieve his stolen property, any and all intruders shall be exterminated!"


	5. Dear Kaby

The taller of the two Vanish Brothers leapt at Natsu, the fire user avoided the attack, the ground breaking apart where he had previously been standing, courtesy of the taller brother bringing his foot down in a stomp. The smaller of the two took advantage of Natsu's momentary distraction, striking him with his weapon that resembled an oversized frying pan and causing him to smash into one of the bookcases. He recovered in time to avoid another powerful kick from the taller brother, turning the bookcase into woodchips as he landed on top of another one.

"You know when you guys play with fire," Natsu began as he reignited his fists, "You get burned!" He roared, lunging for the two.

"Then how about we show you _why_ we're equipped to deal with fire wizards?" The shorter brother spoke up, deflecting Natsu's attack, the fire encasing his fists was then absorbed into the weapon.

"What the-" Natsu began before the frying pan lit up with intense heat emanating from it, so much so that the Dragon Slayer flinched from the heat and was then struck by the weapon. He hissed in pain from the heat of the weapon.

"My weapon is especially enchanted to absorb a fire wizard's attack and deflect it back with twice the strength." The weapon-wielding brother explained with a grimace, "Though the fact that you weren't incinerated by my counter leads me to believe you are the infamous 'Salamander'. It seems the rumours about you being resistant to flames were true."

"Yeah, what does it matter who I am?" Natsu questioned.

"It matters a great deal actually." The tallest brother stated, suddenly appearing before him and roundhouse-kicking the pink-haired man in the chest, sending him flying, however Natsu was able to correct himself despite being winded by the powerful blow, "Fairy Tail may be a big deal, but at the end of the day you're just as weak as any other wizard."

"What do you mean?" Natsu snarled aggressively.

"To perform magic both efficiently and correctly, many wizards must hone their intellect," The shorter brother said, going to further explain his statement, "In doing this, they often neglect to train their bodies."

"Which is why mercenaries reign supreme in both speed and strength, we train our bodies to their peak condition." The other brother elaborated.

Natsu simply began to chuckle, "Is there something you find amusing?" The shorter brother questioned, not taking too kindly to the Fairy Tail mage practically mocking them.

"If you think I'm supposed to be afraid of that, then bring it on!" The fire user challenged.

"Bro, do you think we should use our signature technique?" The taller brother asked, his companion simply turned his head and smirked.

"It is as he wishes." The smaller of the two men holding his weapon out as his partner jumped into it.

"Secret technique: Heaven and Earth Annihilation!" The two mercenaries decreed in unison, the wielder of the weapon launching his partner into the air, causing Natsu to look up.

"Look up to Heaven," The shorter of the two said as he rushed forward, hitting Natsu with the weapon, "And be struck by the Earth!" The Dragon Slayer landed in such a way that he was facing the ground.

"Look down to Earth," The other Vanish Brother said as he appeared above Natsu and planted a foot firmly into his back, "And be struck from the Heavens!" After the attack, the assailant jumped back to be at his partner's side once again.

"Think he's had enough?" The taller one questioned.

"He has witnessed the true strength of the Vanish Brothers and tasted the power of a direct hit from both stages of the Heaven and Earth Annihilation technique. It would be a miracle if he turns out to be one of the few who has survived such an attack." The shorter one answered.

"Then I guess I'm one of the few." Natsu's voice arose from the dust of the attack.

"Impossible…" The two hired soldiers mumbled in shock.

"And now, I'm going to show you the strength of a Fairy Tail mage!" Natsu declared as he inhaled deeply before exuding a torrent of fire, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" With the statement of the attack, the mercenary's shock turned to triumph.

"Has he forgotten what we can do to fire magic so soon?" The taller brother scoffed.

"Let's remind him, shall we?" The shorter one asked rhetorically, "My frying pan can absorb your technique," He said as the gout of fire was taken in by the weapon, "And fire it back at you with twice the power!" He shouted, launching a large fireball formed from the pan at Natsu, which the exploded on impact, "Even with his fire resistance he couldn't have possibly survived that." The pan-user said, the duo's victory was short-lived however as the sound of inhalation became audible.

"Now I've got a fire in my belly!" Natsu stated after eating the inferno, causing the two mercenaries to panic. Placing the palms of his hands so they were facing behind him, Natsu unleashed a blast of flames from both palms, effectively using them as thrusters which he used to propel himself towards the frying pan. The main body of the weapon broke apart and the handle was bent out of shape by Natsu's flame-boosted impact against the metal object, officially terrifying the hired guards as they now had no defence against any of Natsu's fire.

"The thing is, at Fairy Tail we fight on a constant basis, we're always pushing ourselves to be stronger both mentally and physically!" At his declaration, the Dragon Slayer's arms once again ignited, yet this time the flames took the shape of wings, "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" He bellowed, rushing past the duo as they were slashed by the attack that had been given a boost by Natsu devouring the flames from before. The explosion produced by the blow both blasting out all of the window panes and incinerating every book in the library. It was so big that the people of Shirotsume Town either heard or saw the sudden blast that had come from the estate of the most affluent man in the town.

"Was that a little overboard?" Natsu questioned to himself as he looked around the destruction he'd caused, as well as the defeated Vanish Brothers, still alive but covered from head to toe in soot.

* * *

To combat her opponents, Lisanna turned into the partial version of her Cat Soul, forming blue and black striped fur on her arms, legs and formed a tube top, a two-piece bikini-like bottom with a long cat-like tail that had grown from her lower back with the same pattern as the fur on her limbs. Two triangular cat ears sprung from her head lastly, the nails on her hands had become claw-like.

"Flying Virgo Attack!" The pink-haired maid shouted as she attempted to body-slam Lisanna, though due to the added agility from her new form, she easily avoided it. The other four maids were instantly upon her with the spears they had armed themselves with. Despite the weapons they carried, it was clear they weren't trained to use them as they appeared to struggle with the weight when they were swinging them. Making it much easier for the take-over mage to retaliate, sweeping the legs out from under one and kicking another in the stomach. The two she struck evidently hadn't seen much combat experience as both blows were enough to take out the two she struck. The remaining two realised that even with the short display that Lisanna easily outmatched them, instead dropping their spears in what was effectively a surrender gesture and retrieving their fellow maids before retreating.

Now there was only one enemy left to deal with, the stocky maid who had first greeted her and Lucy outside. She got up from her previously failed attack and attempted to shoulder charge the Fairy Tail wizard. Lisanna was once again able to dodge the assault, though the brute force behind the attack was demonstrated as Virgo went crashing into the Everlue statue, causing the knee supports to buckle and the statue to topple backwards.

"I hope you realise that this is nothing personal," The maid said, shrugging off the feeling off impacting into the statue, "Were it not for my contract with my master, I may have let you go."

"Contract?" Lisanna mumbled to herself. Suddenly, it was as if a switch flicked on in her head, this maid was called Virgo and she was going on about a contract, which seemed far too coincidental if she just so happened to possess the name of a well-known constellation, "You're a Celestial Spirit aren't you?"

Virgo was taken aback, a mixed look of surprised and impressed with the young woman, "You are correct, I am Virgo, one of the Zodiac Celestial Spirits."

In all honesty, it baffled Lisanna why Virgo would serve someone like Everlue as she found it unlikely he would treat anyone well, unlike her blonde friend, "Why do you work for Everlue?"

A look of regret flashed on Virgo's features, "Celestial Spirits do not choose their master, we must follow their orders without question, regardless of how we feel."

Lisanna felt pity for the spirit, even though she may have been directly responsible for the demise of the wizards who came before, it was likely she did so reluctantly. It was then that the take-over mage got an idea, "How would you like to have another master? The friend who I sent off before is also a celestial wizard, one much better than Everlue."

Virgo seemed to think for a moment, "I suppose that if the secret you find from that book is enough to incarcerate Everlue, it would render our contract null and void, allowing me form a contract with a new master."

"But as long as Everlue walks free, you still have to listen to him." Lisanna stated.

"That is correct, if you are able to defeat me and if Everlue becomes imprisoned, I will consider your request to swear allegiance to your friend." The Zodiac member stated.

"Then there's no other option." Lisanna said, while her Cat Soul was agile and certainly had more strength than her Jackrabbit Soul, to deal with Virgo she would need something much more physically powerful. Her body glowed once again, when the light died down her limbs were covered in thick, coarse, brown hair, the exposed skin of her hands and feet had turned into a tough light lavender hide. A crop-top like pattern of fur formed around her chest, showing off prominent abs, fur also formed from the pelvis and below, joining with the fur on her legs and giving the impression she was wearing cargo pants. Finally, a short elephantine tail now protruded from her lower back, "Mammoth Soul!" As Lisanna declared her new take-over Virgo once again leapt upwards and body-slammed her, this time succeeding for the briefest of moments it appeared Virgo had quite literally crushed the youngest Strauss. That is until Lisanna was able to lift the celestial spirit off her, courtesy of the increased strength of Mammoth Soul.

The two got up from their positions and launched a punch at each other, their fists connecting together in a stalemate. Lisanna used the strength of her leg muscles to push herself forward and planted her free fist into Virgo's stomach which caused her to step back but she didn't even look winded. The celestial spirit tried to bring her arm down in an elbow strike, Lisanna was able to stop the blow using both hands and pushed upwards, effectively staggering the maid. The take-over user leapt upwards, landing an uppercut with enough force to lift Virgo off her feet. The zodiac spirit landed on her back, despite the fact that she was able to lift herself up again, she still felt dazed.

"Batter up!" Lisanna declared, the take-over mage had managed to rend the statue free of what little remained of its leg supports and now held the statue similarly to how you would expect a batter to. She swung the statue, scarring parts of the wall in the process and while Virgo even in her half-dazed state tried to resist it, the sheer weight of the statue backed up by Lisanna's increased physical strength sent the pink-haired spirit crashing through the front doors of the mansion. Lisanna waited expectantly as she looked at the spirit at the end of the small ravine that had been caused when Virgo ploughed into the footpath. The Zodiac disappeared in a flash of gold light, Lisanna smiled at that, step one to getting Virgo's key out of Everlue's possession was complete. Now all that was left was to have the duke arrested and retrieve the key that was most likely on his person.

"You did well." Natsu spoke up with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"So did you." Lisanna replied as she caught the scent of ash.

The Dragon Slayer scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, now let's find Lucy, shall we?" Lisanna nodded at the question, the two setting off to search for their blonde friend.

* * *

Lucy and Happy had been wandering through the mansion, miraculously not encountering Everlue even once. However, to read Daybreak and discover its secrets in peace, they would need to find somewhere secretive to give them the time necessary to discover it. As they traversed through the halls, Happy noticed a door that seemed out of place, it was unlocked and the moment it opened the two's nostrils were assailed by the foul stench of raw sewage. It seemed they had found a possible escape route Everlue must have installed if any of his corrupt actions were uncovered.

After descending the dark staircase the duo arrived in a dimly lit tunnel, though they both had to practically swallow the urge to gag on the smell. Lucy took out her Gale Force Reading Glasses and opened the book. It didn't take long for her to find something in the book, "No way…" The blonde mumbled.

"What is it Lucy?" Happy asked but before the celestial wizard could elaborate, the wall behind her suddenly burst open.

"So you managed to discover Daybreak's secret? Tell it to me!" Everlue demanded, painfully holding Lucy's wrists against her back.

"No way." Lucy said through gritted teeth, "A man like you doesn't deserve to know what it is, you're an enemy of literature!"

"Enemy?!" Everlue questioned in an outraged tone, "My extensive collection of books and art proves I am culture's greatest friend!"

"You could be the most evil man in history and have an even larger collection, it doesn't change who you are!" Lucy retorted.

"You little harlot!" The duke screamed as he forced Lucy's face to the ground by twisting her wrists and pushing them further up her back, "The secret must be something incredible for you to not want to tell me. Did Zekua Melon bury his fortune? And the treasure map is hidden inside?" He asked, flashing a greedy smile at the book Lucy still kept grasped in one hand, "Tell me it now or I'll snap your arms like toothpicks!"

"Go ahead and try!" Lucy snapped defiantly.

"Sassy one, aren't we? Listen girl, I commissioned Melon to write this book, anything it holds is rightfully mine for the taking." Everlue revealed, though the corrupt politician cried out in pain as Happy rammed into his jaw, releasing Lucy from his grip.

"Happy!" Lucy cried in glee, getting off her knees to join her companion levitating at her side.

"Looks like the shoe is on the other foot," Lucy said, pointing a key with five prongs on each side, shaping it like a crab's claw, "And when all of this is done, Daybreak's secret will be with who it rightfully belongs to and you'll be in jail."

"Oh, a celestial wizard?" Everlue questioned, "Well two can play at that game!" He said, taking out his own golden key, shocking the blonde.

"He's a celestial wizard too?!" Happy cried.

"That's right you ruffians now open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" But despite Everlue's proclamation, nothing happened, "I said," Everlue began sternly, "Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" Once again, nothing occurred, the corrupt politician glared angrily at the key she held, "What's wrong with this blasted key!" He looked up when Lucy laughed in a manner that mocked the affluent man.

"There's only one reason why a celestial spirit won't come, they're incapacitated, meaning my friends already took care of her." Lucy explained.

Everlue growled in annoyance, "No matter, by the time I'm through with you, you'll be feeding the fishes just like those other wizards! You won't be a match for the power of my Diver magic! Boyoyo!" He cried as he disappeared into the ground, attempting to grab the book each time she popped up but Lucy was able to avoid each attempt.

"Look, I know the whole story, it's a bad adventure novel with a trash character name Duke Everlue!" Lucy said.

"Seriously?" Happy deadpanned at the man's blatant egotism.

"I wouldn't call the protagonist of that tale trashy… but yes," The duke said, once again disappearing into the ground, "The story itself is garbage and to think it was written by the great Zekua Melon is a tragedy. You would think threatening such a man and his family would actually encourage him to write a half-decent novel."

"I can't believe your arrogance, you _forced_ him to write it!" Lucy said, becoming increasingly angered with the man before her.

" _Arrogance?_ What? To tell my stories should be an honour! No matter what the cost or circumstances." The duke's voice echoed through the tunnel in a sneer.

"The why blackmail him into it?" Lucy retorted.

"What does it matter? Extra encouragement saved him the job, any fool would have jumped at the chance to have _me_ in their book. But he had the audacity to refuse me." Everlue said as swam through the ground briefly before disappearing again, only his hand stuck up behind the duo with the index finger pointing upwards when he resurfaced, "So I gave some added in inspiration in the form of an ultimatum. Either write the book or his families' citizenship would be revoked. Without that they couldn't join any guild and not even attempt to make a living. Though if that prideful fool had refused me a second time, let's just say his family would be out of the picture." The duke bragged.

"So you were either going to ruin their lives or kill them?" Happy asked, the flying cat becoming stricken by the revelation.

"Yes, I have the power to do anything!" He declared boastfully, his hand disappearing before the ground beneath the duo began to crack, the two quickly ran from the spot as Everlue popped up again, "I got him to write the book, didn't I?"

Then the duke's tone turned sinister, "But I didn't like the attitude he gave me, so I felt it was best for him to write it from the comfort of a prison cell, boyoyo! He would go on and on about being a brilliant novelist who would never submit to pressure. But I got him to crack!" Everlue then began to spin and proceeded to ricochet around the tunnel.

"I can't believe you would do something like that just to feed your own selfish ego. He was in solitary confinement for three years because of you!" Lucy revealed.

Everlue burst from the ground in front of her, "That was just how long it took for him to appreciate me boyoyo. Though how could you possibly know such a thing?" The corrupt man demanded.

"It's right here in this book." Lucy stated.

"What?! I've read that book cover-to-cover, nothing about Zekua Melon is ever mentioned."

"Exactly, Zekua Melon wasn't just a writer, he was a wizard and he used his magic to masquerade your lies as the story of a heroic champion of justice."

"A dirty trick?" Everlue growled in anger, "The nerve of him! Turning the tale of a great man like me into a hack job! I won't be insulted like this!" He roared as he lunged to grab the book once again.

"Get over yourself!" Lucy shouted at the deranged man as she avoided his reaching grasp, "It was never about you! The lies and tricks you've pulled over the years are only a small part of it, in fact his secret doesn't even mention you."

"What the devil do you mean?!" He asked, fury rising in his tone.

"I won't give this book back to you Everlue, because it was never yours to begin with!" The blonde declared, once again taking out the key she had threatened to use before, "Now open, Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer!" In a flash of light a man dressed similarly to a hair stylist with six large crab legs protruding from his back appeared, carrying a pair of scissors in each hand that seemed to be sharpened.

"What will it be today, miss Lucy?" The crab-like man asked.

Pointing at Everlue, "Give him the full cut!" Lucy commanded, Cancer rushed at Everlue, who prepared to dive but the zodiac spirit was upon him before he had a chance to submerge. With a series of rapid slashes, Everlue was rendered completely hairless, he felt around his face to try and find even a strand of hair but he had no such luck. The corrupt man meekly crawled over to the filthy water in hopes of seeing his reflection even in the murk. Once he did, he clutched his face, "You bitch!" He spat venomously, "You've taken my beauty!"

"Lucy!" Two voices cried in unison, it was Natsu and Lisanna, heading straight for them.

"It's all of your faults this happened!" Everlue seethed, seemingly indecisive on who to turn his anger on as he glanced around to glare at each of the four at least once. All present primed their respective magic's or in Lucy and Cancer's case, a whip and scissors respectively.

"That's quite enough of that!" A voice unfamiliar to anyone in the standoff echoed down the tunnel. Grabbing their attention, they all turned to see a man who wore glasses, with his black hair held up in a bun, judging by his uniform, he was an authority figure in the Rune Knights, if the horde of said soldiers standing behind him was enough of an indication. Evidently Natsu's flashy display from before had caused concern among the townsfolk.

Seeing an opportunity to escape, Duke Everlue crawled towards the man, "Oh officer, thank you for appearing when you did!" He declared, putting on an act of crocodile tears, "These _hooligans_ trespassed into my home, assaulted my beautiful maids and _look_ at what they've done to me! If you'll please tell me where Captain Druchaa is, I'm sure we could have everything sorted out."

"That's not going to be possible," The man stated, at Everlue's questioning look, he continued, "Captain Druchaa was indicted on corruption charges among several other high-ranking officers from the local Rune Knight's barracks. I am the new captain, Lahar Cinzus."

"Well then captain, would you like to hear our side of the story?" Lucy asked, the official nodded, his stoic expression remaining unchanged. Reaching into a pocket of her skirt and taking out a small lacrima crystal, "My little buddy," Lucy began, motioning to Happy, "Carries a lot of useful stuff in that little sack of his, including a recording lacrima." As Lucy spoke those words, she got the sweet satisfaction of seeing Everlue's eyes widen in horror. Everyone stayed silent once she tapped it, every word Everlue, Lucy and Happy had spoken since arriving in the sewer system echoed throughout the tunnel. By the end of it, the four Fairy Tail mages were grinning triumphantly whilst Everlue seemed to realise his goose was cooked. Lahar gave a nod to the knights behind him, a few stepped forward and put a pair of cuffs on him that likely nullified his ability to use magic.

"Hold on a moment," Lucy spoke up, she checked through his pockets, though he offered no resistance, in fact the most she got were a few puzzled glances from the Rune Knights in attendance. Finally, the blonde found what she was looking for, "You won't need this where you're going." Lucy said as she dangled Virgo's key in front of him, not that he seemed to care.

"Thank you for your assistance in the matter, we've been looking to unearth corruption in Shirotsume Town for a while." Lahar spoke up as his men took Everlue away, "We had a confession from former Captain Druchaa about Everlue's involvement in the corruption but until this point we had no solid evidence." The man explained as Lucy handed him the recording lacrima.

"No problem, we were hoping to see a man like Everlue put away." Lucy replied.

Lahar smiled, though Fairy Tail and the Magic Council had a strained relationship at best, he was at least grateful for the help. It was then that Lucy realised if they would need a more solid case, they may very well request that Daybreak be turned over to them, "Fear not." Lahar spoke up once he noticed the blonde's concern, "Druchaa has also revealed many… unsavoury associates of Everlue's who will likely speak once they realise he's in custody, including the mercenaries who were found in the library. You may keep Daybreak, from my understanding it was to retrieve the book for your client on a mission, correct?" At the group's nod, Lahar simply made an 'after you' gesture.

"So what will happen to this place?" Natsu questioned as the group finally stepped out of the grounds.

"If I had to guess, it will likely be-" Lahar began but was cut off by a deep rumbling, causing him and the four he was escorting to turn around and see that Everlue's mansion was collapsing. It seemed that the duke's constant tunnelling had an adverse effect on the foundations of the luxurious manor. They all watched as the house toppled, "I was going to say 'the estate will be seized' but it would appear that this rubble will have to be cleared before that happens." He explained, the group chuckled as they left him muttering about the volume of extra paperwork he would no doubt receive.

* * *

When the four arrived back at Kaby's home, the man was surprised to see the book he wanted destroyed still intact, so much so he nearly became angry with the wizards that took his request. Before that could become a reality, Lucy informed him of her findings, "You're saying, my father put a spell on this book?" He asked in a calmer tone.

"That's right." Lucy said, "I know you must be angry to see it. But if you wish to burn it, then I'd rather you do it yourself."

"I most certainly will burn this trash." Kaby said, "It's brought nothing but misery to my family."

"You want to protect his legacy don't you?" Lucy questioned, "Because you're Zekua Melon's son."

Kaby seemed briefly surprised by the blonde's spot-on deduction, before Natsu spoke up, "You're really just going to burn?" He asked.

"I am." Kaby responded succinctly, it was that Natsu became _very_ angry with the gentleman in front of him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

"Without bothering to see what's inside. It's your dad's last book isn't it?! Some of us would kill for those kinds of memories!" The Dragon Slayer shouted.

"That's enough Natsu!" Lucy yelled, putting an arm between him and Kaby. Natsu was ready to retort until he felt Lisanna place a reassuring hand on his shoulder, which calmed the fire user down enough for Lucy to speak up in a firm, but gentle tone, "Please, just let Kaby explain himself."

"It happened thirty-one years ago…" Kaby said, "My father returned home after being missing for three years. When he got back, the first thing he did… was to amputate his own arm." Naturally, this caused the members of the group to look horrified, "After that, all the feelings that had welled up over the three years he was gone came pouring out. The fact that his excuse was money and he was proud despite calling it rubbish made me even angrier." He continued to explain, placing a hand over his eyes as tears began to stream down his face, his wife coming over to him an attempt at comfort, "I said things I can never take back, they formed a rift between my father and I that lasted until long after he died. But as the years went on, my anger slowly turned to remorse, I thought the only way to make amends would be to destroy the last book that had caused him so much pain."

"You're wrong." Lucy said, causing the other room occupants to look at the celestial wizard in surprise, "Kaby look." As the blonde said this, the book was engulfed by purple light.

"What's happening?" Kaby asked as he was temporarily blinded by the light, the lettering on the front of the book rearranging itself so instead of 'Daybreak' it spelt 'Dear Kaby'.

"The spell used by Zekua Melon was one that disguised all of the words so no one else could read it, this is his letter to you!" Lucy declared as the book sprung open, filling the room with trails of lettering that moved around and like the words on the cover, were rearranging themselves to form sentences, "He didn't stop writing because of the shame, he stopped because he had completed his masterpiece. An entire novella dedicated to everything he wanted to say to his beloved son and when read in the correct way, it's easily his greatest work!" The book then closed with its new title, it fell back into Kaby's outstretched hands, "And now that the spell is broken, you can read it for yourself!"

"Thank you father," Kaby said as he held the novel protectively to his chest, "I swear I won't let any harm come to this book."

"I guess we aren't collecting that reward money." Natsu said as he walked towards the door out of the house.

"Wait, what?" Lucy asked, Lisanna looking surprised alongside her.

"We didn't burn it, so we shouldn't collect the money for the job." Natsu explained.

"Even so, please let me pay you." Kaby tried to insist.

"Yeah, let him give us the money!" Lucy spoke up, sounding somewhat desperate.

"Lucy, stop being greedy, you're ruining a really touching moment." Happy chastised teasingly.

"I need the cash!" Lucy reasoned.

"Nah, I think we all need to head home, especially you mister Melon." Natsu said, which shocked Kaby and his wife.

On the way back home Natsu explained that he could tell the Melon's scents weren't in the house for longer than the scent of other people. After being uncovered, Kaby admitted he and his wife weren't as wealthy as they first let on and even if they wanted to, they couldn't pay the Fairy Tail wizards the reward money that had been specified. Well… it would be a long walk back home for the group.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys thanks for reading, hope you liked my interpretation of the end of the Daybreak arc. Now I just wanted to say that for the name of the corrupt guard captain and Lahar's surname (which I know canonically doesn't exist), I literally just got a name from a random name generator under the FT category. So yeah, just wanted to explain that and reviews are very much appreciated.


	6. Eisenwald

Lucy sat waiting in her apartment for Lisanna's arrival, after finding out Kaby had in fact been renting his home and didn't have the two million jewels that was promised to them they went away empty handed and after the long trek back to Magnolia the group had agreed to rest for a day before she gave them a demonstration of her abilities (much to Natsu and Happy's excitement). Oh well, at least Lucy got a new Zodiac key out of the failed endeavour. Now, all she needed to do was wait for her guests to arrive for the demonstration of her magic. Speaking of which, there was a knock on the door, her friends had arrived. However, as Lucy opened the door, she was greeted by an empty hallway or so Lucy thought as familiar voice spoke up, "Down here Lucy." She looked to see Happy, who then walked past the blonde's legs.

"Where are Natsu and Lisanna?" The celestial wizard asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Natsu overslept, so Lisanna is trying to get him out of bed." The blue cat giggled.

"You like teasing people don't you?" Lucy questioned, though she had to admit that it was quite funny.

"Yeah, I know I can be annoying sometimes but it's just how I show affection, the truth is I actually really like you Lucy." Happy admitted bashfully as he sat down on her couch, Lucy ruffled the fur on his head playfully to show his feelings were mutual.

Another knock at the door sounded, it was Cana clutching a bottle of wine. Seeing as the brunette was another close friend she had made in the guild, it only made sense to Lucy that she was invited to see a display of the blonde's magic, "For you, consider it a housewarming gift." The card-user grinned.

"Thank you." Lucy said, graciously accepting the wine, though being able to drink it would have to wait for another day. Cana gave an impressed whistle as she walked inside and took a look around, giving a nod of acknowledgement to Happy.

"All this for only seventy-thousand jewels a month, nice deal!" She said, seeing as the Fairy Hills girl's dorm had a similar setup but cost one-hundred thousand jewels a month. Cana knew how to make herself at home, as demonstrated when she sat down and leaned back to relax in a chair.

Then there was a series of rapid knocks on the door, when Lucy opened it, Natsu and Lisanna were standing there. The former was eagerly bouncing on the balls of his feet, "When I reminded him what today was he shot out of bed like a bullet." Lisanna explained, letting the two friend's chuckle at the fire-user's attitude.

With all of her guests assembled, Lucy pulled out a key and began to recite an incantation, "I, who connects this world with the spirit world, command thee to answer my call, pass through the gate!" White smoke began to swirl around the blonde as she was illuminated by a light with a vaguely blue hue, "Open, Gate of the Little Dog: Nicola!" At her command a series of bright lights appeared before shortly coalescing to create a vaguely humanoid form, its features obscured by the bright light. When it died down, a snowman-like spirit about Happy's size who perpetually shivered was shown.

"He's so cute!" Lisanna and Lucy chimed together, Cana simply smiled contently, sharing the sentiment but not choosing to openly express it. Natsu and Hapy were the least impressed with the spirit.

"Spirits like Nicola don't use a lot of magic to summon, so they're quite popular as pets." Lucy explained, "Now to form the contract, how are you on Monday's?" At her question, the silver key spirit gave a shake of its head. Lucy continued listing of the days of the week, the snowman-like spirit either giving a shake or a nod in response, she spoke up again once she'd finished, "All he needs is a name," Thinking for a brief moment, "How about Plue?" Though her friends seemed a little confused by the nickname there were no questions raised, by contrast the dog spirit was quite happy with its new nickname and after Lucy gave him one last hug he disappeared back to the celestial spirit world.

"Now, for Virgo." Lucy said as she pulled out the gold key.

"Alright, the gorilla maid!" Natsu said eagerly, his interest in viewing the summoning restored. Cana gave him a quizzical look but didn't get a chance to ask what he was talking about as Lucy once again stated the initial summoning line.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" She finished, though much to the confusion of four of the five occupants of the room, the muscle-bound servant from the day before did not appear. Instead was a petite young woman with chin-length pink hair and blue eyes dressed in a maid outfit.

"Yes mistress, how may I serve you?" She asked, giving a slight bow, it took Lucy a moment to realise that the question was addressed to her.

"Virgo?" The blonde inquired.

"That is correct, I apologise for the confusion, I typically take a form that I feel my master will find suitable." The Zodiac spirit explained.

"Aw, I liked you when you were a gorilla…" Natsu whined, Virgo's response was to suddenly shift into the larger form though in the small confines of the apartment, she looked ready to go through the ceiling.

"The short version is fine!" Lucy screeched in alarm, Virgo shrunk back to the form she had appeared in, with thankfully minimal damage to the roof.

"Thank you for your input mistress." Virgo said, though Lucy looked somewhat uncomfortable with the title.

"You know, you don't have to call me that." Lucy replied.

"Oh, then what about master?" Lucy shook her head, "Milady?" Another shake prompted the maid-like spirit to continue.

"Doesn't it seem like they're making a contract in reverse now?" Happy commented in a whisper to the other three. All of them snickered lightly as the back and forth between Lucy and Virgo did seem like their positions had been switched.

"Princess?" Virgo questioned, she was persistent, Lucy would give her that much though princess did sound like a nice title to have…

"Alright then." Lucy sighed in good-natured defeat, a smile indicating there were no hard feelings towards the spirit's perseverance.

"Very good," Virgo said, "I am available Monday through Saturday at all times, however Sundays are my days off." She informed her, they shook hands in hands in agreement, "Then I will be on my way, I look forward to working with you soon Princess," She said before turning to Lisanna, "And with you as well, Miss Lisanna." With that, she disappeared in a flash of gold light.

"That all seems really simple." Natsu commented.

"It is to an extent, but it's also very important," The blonde stated, "You see a contract is sort of like a promise where both spirit and summoner agree to look out for one another. As such, the only thing I can never break is a promise."

"That's really interesting," Cana spoke up, "But not as interesting as having a genuine princess in our midst," She continued in a teasing tone, strutting up to the blonde and taking her by the right hand, gently planting a kiss on the blonde's guild mark. Lucy blushed furiously, she knew exactly what the gesture was and Lisanna's teasing comment only solidified that fact.

"Cana, how scandalous! At least propose to her grace before trying to marry her!" One of Fiore's traditions in terms of marriage was that if one or both spouses were official wizards, their partner would have to kiss the guild mark to show not just their devotion to their husband or wife, but to the guild they belonged to.

"Guys stop teasing me!" Lucy whined, causing the other occupants to burst out laughing.

"When's the wedding?" Happy asked from the sidelines, somehow Lucy's blush went even darker and the others in the room could have sworn steam was rising out of the blonde's head. Evidently, this caused a fresh round of laughter from everyone aside from the embarrassed celestial wizard.

* * *

After relentlessly teasing the blonde, the group made their way to the guild hall as Natsu, Lisanna and Happy went ahead, Cana pulled Lucy back, walking behind the farthest of their little band, "So you can summon a bull with a battle-axe, a maid who does everything you say and calls you princess, and a spirit who can cause tsunamis? You're turning out to be a real badass aren't you?"

Lucy smiled at the compliment, "Don't forget what I told you my crab spirit did to my opponent the day before."

"How could I?" Cana snorted in amusement, "I was laughing so hard I thought beer was going to start coming out my nose." The card-user reached into her pockets and pulled out a deck of cards, "How about as a thank you, I show you what I can do?"

"Oh yeah, how does your card magic work?" Lucy asked.

The brunette grinned at that, eager to explain, "You see I have a lot of different cards, so I tend to create different decks for different purposes. Some cards I use to incapacitate my opponent, like the Vulcan we fought with the dizziness spell others can cause damage usually from elemental abilities sealed within the card."

"Wow, card magic is actually really versatile isn't it?" Lucy wondered, amazed by the varying degrees to which the objects could be used in combat.

"They are but there's more to it than just fighting. You see cards can also be used as trackers if a group gets separated, as temporary prisons to capture rogue wizards or even be used to tell the future." Lucy's eyes widened, clearly the objects normally associated with games or gambling had the potential to be much more powerful than she first realised.

"So you can predict what will happen before it's even begun?" Lucy asked in awe.

Cana shrugged, "A little bit though only as far as a week at most, that being said I _can_ say whether or not the future will be related to your past." The blonde gave an impressed nod at her answer.

The two reached the guild hall and took a seat with Natsu and Lisanna, who had already entered the base and situated themselves next to the other two Strauss siblings, "Morning Lucy." Mirajane greeted cheerily, Elfman giving a nod of acknowledgement, Lucy greeted them with a nod of her own.

Before the group could begin any conversation amongst themselves, a certain auburn-haired playboy made his way over to them, "So this is our beautiful new member?" He asked in suave tone.

"Someone's a little late," Cana commented dryly, "Four days has to be the longest you've ever gone without asking a new member out on a date, it's a record by your standards."

Loke shrugged at that, "What can I say? I had other priorities."

"You mean girls?" Natsu quipped, earning chuckles from everyone else seated at the table.

"Aw that's harsh Natsu," The ring-magic user said, "But anyway, how about a date Lucy?"

"Don't try anything shifty Loke." Cana said, "If you do Lucy can summon her giant crab spirit to make you bald and I know you care about your hair more than most things."

"Giant crab spirit?" Loke mumbled, a slight bit of unease beginning to settle in his features.

Lucy was oblivious to said unease and simply chuckled at her friend's banter with the guild mate she had yet to talk to. She took out her keychain to show him, "How about this Loke? One date, and we'll see where it goes, take me out anywhere you want, but no funny business my spirits will make sure of that." However, much to the confusion of those seated, Loke began backing away quite rapidly.

"Sorry, I have… stuff to do." He explained hastily, making a beeline for the guild's doors at a quick speed no one was expecting.

"What was that all about?" Elfman asked in confusion, having never seen the eligible bachelor run scared from anyone who didn't threaten him first.

Cana shrugged at that, "Don't know, but I guess this makes you the fourth girl Loke isn't willing to date Lucy."

"Who are the other three?" Lucy asked.

Mirajane answered her question, "That would be me out of respect for who I am, Lisanna for reasons that I'm not going to divulge at the moment and then there's-" Before the eldest Strauss could finish her sentence, the guild doors were swung open with force, gaining the attention of everyone in the guild hall. It was Loke, panting with a thick sheet of sweat clear on his brow, he must have rushed back in a hurry.

"We have a problem," He began in a dread-filled tone, "Erza's back."

"Her." Mirajane finished as everyone but herself and Lucy appeared nervous, though the latter was more due to ignorance as to whom Erza was than anything else.

A new face entered the guild hall, a young woman a little bit older than Lucy dressed in armour with long, red hair. The air she gave off was intimidating, which was only amplified by the fact that she was carrying a bejewelled horn twice her size with only one hand. Yet despite her appearance, Erza was rather beautiful, Lucy would have said at least as pretty as Mirajane and could probably give Cana a run for her money in terms of looks. It was plain to see why Loke would be unwilling to date her.

"Hello everyone, as you can see, I've returned." She said bluntly.

Elfman was the first to gain the courage to speak up, "What's that horn?"

"It belonged to the monster I fought," Erza briefly explained, "The locals were so grateful that they decided to decorate it for me." The middle Strauss nodded in understanding, but a brief regretful look also crossed his features.

"But I've also heard that despite the crackdown on our destructive habits there's still several antics that make the guild look unprofessional." She began strictly, "Firstly, Wakaba, stop smoking in the guild hall," The older wizard kept his complaints to himself as he put out his pipe, "Cana, I've told you several times to not use clients to pay for your bar tab," The card-user looked away but didn't even mutter anything under her breath. The armoured woman continued to admonish her guild mates until Natsu finally got fed up.

"Did you want something or did you just come here to complain all day?"

Erza went silent at that and several other members looked at Natsu like he was completely insane for speaking out against her, "No," Erza replied, "When I was on my way back from my latest mission, I received troubling reports. The dark guild Eisenwald has apparently acquired Lullaby, an ancient flute that is said to kill anyone who hears its song." An air of dread filled the inside of the building, with such power in the wrong hands, no good could come of it.

"Which is why, I need the help of Natsu and Gray." She continued, causing a ripple of surprise as if she wanted the two polar opposites on her team, then the situation was likely dire.

"I have to work together with him?!" The two rivals questioned in unison, both shooting each other a glare and probably would have picked a fight then and there if Erza wasn't standing right in front of them.

"Apparently, Lullaby has not fallen into the hands of Eisenwald's leader Erigor, it is simply in the possession of another member of the guild who's acting as a courier. They're right here in Magnolia, but I have no way of knowing whom the courier is, thus we will head out first thing tomorrow and intercept him before he can reach his guild hall." The scarlet knight explained, ignoring the grievances of the other two members.

"How about you let me and my team handle that instead?" Mirajane spoke out, causing even more surprise from the guild.

Erza looked at her fellow S-class questioningly, "You don't need to go on it if you don't want to." She said in a tone that made her seem concerned for the take-over user.

"But I _do_ want to." Mirajane replied, "If you wait even until tomorrow morning, what's to stop whoever is carrying Lullaby to leave at night and be in Oshibana town before you're even up?" She pointed out.

"I wanted to rest so I could fight Eisenwald at my full strength." Erza said.

"That's admirable, and there's no doubt in my mind that you could do it," Mirajane admitted, "But if it's just one guild member transporting Lullaby, you can take care of it easily. So how about letting me and my team cut off the head of the problem, while you deal with the flute?"

Erza after a long moment of consideration, finally sighed in defeat, "I hate it when you're right."

"No you love it." Mirajane teased before she turned around, "Elfman, go to Magnolia station and get our tickets for our train ride to Oshibana town, Lis and I will pack our things. Natsu, Lucy and Happy, you're coming with us as well so get ready."

"As long as I don't have to work with the ice princess, that's fine by me." Natsu stated bluntly.

"Well fine ash-for-brains, I didn't want to work with you either!" Gray retorted as the Dragon Slayer exited the guild hall.

Before Lucy moved towards the doors, she cast an apologetic look to Cana, "Don't worry about it," Her friend said nonchalantly, "Duty calls, I can show you a thing or two when we get back, maybe even take you on an official mission, deal?" She asked.

"Deal!" The blonde replied glad that it was sorted out. She made her way to her apartment to pack anything she might need.

* * *

It didn't take Lucy too long to pack, in fact she was the first to arrive at Magnolia station, well aside from the person Mirajane had sent to acquire the tickets for them, "Hi Elfman!" The blonde greeted, another nod of acknowledgement, the middle of the Strauss siblings was… definitely stoic. Though perhaps a certain question the blonde had been wanting to ask since Mira offered to take out Eisenwald in Erza's place would convince the man she'd had seldom interaction with to open up, "Hey Elfman?" She asked to gain his attention, "Why was everyone so surprised with Mirajane's suggestion?"

Elfman flinched briefly, though it was barely noticeable, still Lucy had asked a question so it would be impolite of him to refuse, "An incident occurred two years ago, one that convinced Mirajane to not take S-Class missions as often and it's been a while since she did one," He then shrugged, "I guess the reason why Erza didn't have anything to say despite knowing that is because she believes in her."

Lucy was happy with the answer, but now she recalled what Bora had said in Hargeon, an incident that took place two years ago. One that the slaver had claimed nearly cost the life of one of their teammates, "Was it the beast incident?" Lucy asked as tentatively as she could.

This time, Elfman looked visibly surprised, he took a deep breath to sigh as he calmed himself down, "I'm glad you at least know about it and you were probably going to hear the whole story eventually, but you should probably hear it from me, Lisanna or Mira would try to sugar-coat it to make it seem like it wasn't my fault." He explained, "As I said, it happened two years ago. Mira, Lisanna, and I were assigned to an emergency S-class mission to defeat a monster known as the Beast. I thought I would be strong enough to use my style of take-over magic to control it, I was so wrong and because of my actions, Natsu almost died…"

* * *

A/N: And cliffhanger! Sorry guys but you'll have to wait until next chapter to find out what happened on the famous mission XP. I look forward to seeing you their!


	7. Reconnaissance

_2 years ago_

"Elfman… please, snap out it." Mirajane wheezed, the eldest Strauss along with her siblings, Natsu and Happy had encountered the Beast, a gigantic creature that stood taller than the guild hall, cloaked in darkness with its only distinguishable features being its jagged teeth, mane of white fur and the intimidating purple eyes. It had already caused some destruction to a nearby town, Mira had instructed Lisanna to search for and evacuate survivors while she, Elfman and Natsu tried to deal with it.

Elfman had come up with the idea to take the creature over, thereby both subduing it and adding a new power to his arsenal. For a brief moment it had worked, the colossus had come under Elfman's total control but then, it fought back dominating the second-oldest Strauss in a sheer battle of will. Now neither Mirajane nor Natsu could afford to go all out without seriously injuring Elfman.

That had been several hours ago and both the eldest Strauss and the Dragon Slayer were exhausted, though Natsu was much more worse for wear than she was, being barely conscious and even Happy wasn't completely unscathed having received a black eye in his own courageous but ultimately futile attempt to assist them, "Guys!" Lisanna's voice rang out as she descended to meet them in her Bird Soul, changing back to normal once she touched down, "I evacuated everyone I could, just like you said." She informed them as she acted as a support for her sister.

"Run Lisanna." Mira stated, "Elfman tried to help out by taking it over but he couldn't remain in control, we can't beat him."

"That's Elfman?" Lisanna questioned, instead of listening to her older sister and running, Lisanna did the complete opposite and began to walk towards him. The Beast regarded her with a mix of annoyance and curiosity.

"What are you doing? Get away from him!" Mira begged, though her little sister continued walking forwards.

"Hey Elfman, it's Lisanna." She spoke up, the Beast giving a tilt of its head. The youngest Strauss seemed to think she was getting through to him, so she continued, "I'm your little sister, your big sister Mirajane is here too, so are your friends, Natsu and Happy." The Beast merely grunted in indifference, "We promise we're not mad at you, so how about we all just go home, yeah?" She asked as she reached her arms out to either side as if expecting to hug her elder brother.

The Beast didn't see a young woman asking for her brother, it snarled in rage as it took Lisanna's stance as a challenge and raised its right arm high above its head. The animal take-over mage seemed completely oblivious to the mortal danger she was in. Natsu however, was not.

The Dragon Slayer stood himself up and despite a shaky start, ran towards Lisanna as the creature gave one final bellow, ignoring the burning pain of his muscles as they begged him to stop. The Beast swung its arm just as Natsu reached his childhood friend, pushing her out of the path of the clawed hand. The fire-user unfortunately, couldn't avoid the swipe and was struck by the palm of the Beast's hand, sending him sprawling.

"Natsu!" Lisanna screamed as she ran over to her fallen friend, Happy joining her to see if there was anything he could do to help.

The monster let out another threatening roar and looked ready to pounce on its prey that had narrowly escaped death as well as her comrades. However, a small rock struck it in the face just below its right eye, a minor nuisance at best but it was still enough to turn its attention to a standing but shaking Mirajane, "Get away from them." She panted, trying her best to sound threatening but ultimately failing as the Beast roared once again and began making its way over to her, its footsteps shaking the ground, "At least this should buy them time." Mira mumbled to herself, closing her eyes in acceptance, being too tired to run or fight back. The footfalls came to a stop, she didn't need to open her eyes to know that the Beast was now beginning to raise its arm once more.

The blow never came or rather, it was reflected by three magic circles that joined together to shield Mirajane from the attack. The Beast's mixed growl of anger and confusion was what prompted the eldest Strauss to open her eyes once more.

"Three Layer Magic Circle: Mirror Water." A new voice spoke up. It was a man garbed in a black cloak with bandages tied around his calves and forearms, his facial features obscured by a bandanna and headband. Numerous staves were strapped to his back.

"Mystogan? What are you doing here?" Mirajane asked in a questioning tone, she knew very little of the enigmatic member of the guild aside from the fact that he was a rising star despite having joined barely a year ago. As an S-Class mage she was also privy to information such as who would likely be chosen for the next annual S-Class exams, with Mystogan being on top of the list of candidates.

"I was in the area," He answered cryptically, "You two." He continued, pointing one of his staves at Lisanna and Happy, "Take your friend and Mirajane into those woods, don't stop until you reach a clearing where survivors from the town have started to set up a temporary shelter, the doctor there should be able to patch them up."

Happy seemed a little unsure but he was aware Natsu would need urgent medical attention so despite his own exhaustion he picked his friend up and flew off in the direction Mystogan said the encampment would be. Meanwhile, Lisanna used herself as a frame to once more physically support Mirajane, "Don't hurt him, please," The eldest Strauss, "Elfman is still stuck in that thing's body, help him."

Mystogan gave a nod of understanding, prompting the two Strauss sisters to make haste to where Happy was flying overhead, having discovered their place of refuge. The Beast bellowed out a challenge to the newcomer, the potential S-Class turned, "I can't be too gentle, so I apologise in advance Elfman."

The Beast clearly didn't care for the wizard's warning and advanced, bringing its arm down, once again, Mystogan used Mirror Water once more to reflect the blow. The creature was now furious that its prey avoided evisceration again and attempted to sideswipe him, the staff-user dodged the blow but with Beast was becoming increasingly aggressive and wasn't allowing Mystogan a moment to use his magic, it was time for a risky retaliation. He planted his five staves into the ground as the Beast's arm was raised, "Skyscraper!" The Fairy Tail mage declared as the claws came down towards him, stopping just before they reached him. The Beast began looking around in confusion as it was propelled into the air, out of the atmosphere and into space. A tearing sound alerted the Beast to the presence of something else.

Two coal-black hands the size of the Beast seemed to be tearing through the very fabric of reality, soon the tear expanded to reveal a pair of glowing, red eyes and a mouth full of rows of jagged teeth twisted into a sinister, predatory grin. What was most intimidating was the sheer size of this new creature, its head alone was enough to dwarf the Beast in size and it was terrifying. The Beast used to be an apex predator but in the presence of this demonic entity that filled the very air around it with a feeling of dread, it was little more than a morsel. The sadistic smirk of the monster managed to widen even further to an almost unnatural extent before it leapt through the gap and straight towards the Beast, the newly-made prey animal only managed to scream in terror at the approaching horror.

All of it was an illusion, while the Beast believed it was under threat from something that was somehow higher than it in the food chain the reality was that Mystogan was placing all of his staves around it in a pentagon shape. It would take something stronger than Sacred Song to deal with the Beast, ten magic circles appeared above the incapacitated creature, "Ten Layer Magic Circle, Satellite Square: Etherion Alpha." An experimental attack to be sure but it wouldn't be even one twentieth the strength of the real weapon, at least it wouldn't kill Elfman but the potential S-Class couldn't guarantee the middle member of the Strauss family wouldn't feel immense fatigue after his ordeal. The beam of light struck down, snapping the Beast out of the illusion placed on it but subjecting it to the full brunt of the attack. After the beam dissipated, the Beast was revealed to be shaking before it stumbled back, creating a tremor as it landed against the ground, the creature's muscular frame glowing and decreasing in size soon after.

* * *

"After that, Mystogan carried me back to Mira and Lisanna and, a few weeks later Natsu made a full recovery, all he got was some scarring on his left side. Mira began taking less S-Class missions and flat out refused to take us on any unless we became S-Class. To this day, I'm grateful that Natsu came with us and Mystogan arrived when he did, otherwise I don't think I could have forgiven myself if someone had died because of me." Elfman finished, he and Lucy were now on the train, waiting for it to depart. To put it lightly, the blonde was speechless and halfway through the story being told had summoned Plue for comfort, releasing the snowman-like spirit from the tight grip she had unknowingly been putting on him whilst being told the tale, "I understand, you know?" Elfman spoke up, "If… you're afraid of me after telling you this."

Lucy had to think for a moment to respond, "I'm not scared of you," The blonde finally spoke up, "And sure, you made a mistake that could have turned out a lot worse but it didn't. As things stand I've got no reason to be afraid of you." The middle Strauss's response was to give the blond an appreciative look, creating an air of content between the two new friends. Not a second later, the rest of their team entered the train, sitting down next to the two.

Mirajane seemed to sense the newfound camaraderie between the two, "Did something happen?" The eldest Strauss asked. Lucy gave a brief shake of her head.

"Nothing much." She replied.

 _Half an hour later_

"So, who exactly are Eisenwald?" Lucy asked.

"A dark guild, one that specializes in assassination missions that were made illegal by the Council on request of the king a few years ago," Mirajane explained, "Their leader Erigor was known to exclusively take those kinds of missions, earning him the epithet 'The Reaper'. All that's currently known about him is that he rallied Eisenwald together with the promise of restoring their 'rights' to assassination missions."

"He sounds like a pretty scary guy…" Lucy commented, feeling somewhat sickly at the thought of someone actually _loving_ the idea of killing.

"Maybe so but he's an idiot." Mirajane stated bluntly, the blonde gave a questioning look, prompting her senior to elaborate, "I don't entirely agree with the council but ever since the controlled guild system was instigated a little more than a century ago, Fiore has prided itself as a democratic mediator for some other nations, that means being entirely neutral. Now let's say assassination missions were still allowed and someone hires an assassin from a Fiore mage guild to kill a foreign dignitary in peace talks overseen by Fiore. The assassination is successful, what do you think happens?"

"Fiore loses its reliability as a mediator as the one who hired the assassin could have been close to the king," Lucy began, "It could also escalate further to political unrest and in an absolute worst case scenario… war."

"Bingo," Mira confirmed, "But if Eisenwald are really planning to get their hands on Lullaby, they must have a big target in mind."

"So, how many S-Class mages are there in the guild? Wouldn't it have made the most sense to send them all if Lullaby is so dangerous?" Lucy questioned.

"Well, that's the thing," Elfman spoke up, "Mira and Erza are really the only two S-classes who are present in the guild a lot. There are three more though, first there's Mystogan, who tends to travel and never tells anyone but master Makarov where he's going and what he's doing. Secondly, there's Laxus, a lightning mage who's as strong as he is arrogant, he never really bothers with the guild nowadays."

"Who's the third?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Gildarts," Natsu spoke up before Elfman could answer, in spite of still looking green around the gills. Yet despite the interruption, the tone of the dragon slayer's voice made it clear he held great admiration for the man, plus Elfman didn't seem to mind Natsu taking the helm to explain, "The strongest of us all and someone I'm going to beat." He added with a cocky grin, Lucy couldn't help but chuckle at that as Elfman, Mirajane and Happy playfully rolled their eyes at the fire-user.

"And you'll do it someday." Lisanna spoke up, re-joining with the group after scouting out the other train carriages in the very same form she has used to infiltrate Bora's party in Hargeon.

"You're getting really good at transformation, if I hadn't seen you do it I don't think I could have known it was you." Natsu commented.

"Thanks." Lisanna said, blushing lightly before her expression became more serious, "There are three people, two carriages ahead, I heard them discussing about Lullaby and getting off in Oshibana, so it's safe to say that they're part of Eisenwald."

"Good job Lis," Mira said, "Once we're in Oshibana, you'll follow them further, they should eventually go back to their guild hall and that's when we'll strike." Everyone present nodded, Lisanna sat back down next to her comrades, allowing Natsu to lay his head down on her lap to put up with his motion sickness. Now all the group had to was wait.

* * *

It had been some time since Erza had visited the shadier areas of Magnolia and despite its reputation locally, it was almost unknown to many tourists, well aside from those visiting on behalf of dark guilds and other organisations in Fiore's criminal underworld. Erza however was not here to lament about the presence of such groups, if you were the right person, one could get useful information from the seedy bars and the just as unsavoury patrons of said establishments. One bar in particular was Erza's current destination, The Ragged Flagon, identified by the overhanging wooden sign with a flagon with two ornate daggers going through it in a cross pattern. The Fairy Tail mage pushed the door open, walking into the dimly-lit ambiance of the tavern.

There were only three on the ground floor, Vekel, the bartender, a man of about thirty with brown, somewhat shaggy hair and a pencil moustache. Delvin, who was the oldest of the three, appearing to be in his late forties with a shaved head as well as a brown goatee. Finally, there was Vex, a pale-skinned young woman with white, shoulder-length hair. Vekel wore a typical bartender's outfit, brown shirt underneath a white apron. The other two wore matching outfits that were all black, consisting of a pair of fingerless gloves, a leather cuirass of sorts peppered with various sheaths and pockets, finally a simple pair of boots. These three were members of the independent guild, Nocturnal's Mark.

"Erza," Vekel greeted warily, "What can we do for you?"

"At ease Vekel," Erza began, "I'm not here to cause trouble for any of you." The group still looked unsure of the redhead's intentions but none of them protested as Erza walked closer.

"Well then, pull up a seat, have a drink." Delvin spoke up in a friendly tone in his thick, strange accent.

"I'm on a job," Erza stated, it was then that she noticed something about the tavern, a table had been flipped. Normally in a place like the Ragged Flagon bar fights were not uncommon, but that would more than likely be at night, not the daytime, "Something happen?"

Vex snorted at that, "Just some punk from a dark guild thinking he was too good for the Flagon's liquor, said something stupid like his guild was going to 'Change Fiore as we knew it' and that 'This watered down shit isn't good enough'. Dirge gave him a black eye for his trouble."

"Where is he anyway? I thought he was the bouncer?" The redhead questioned.

"He's in the back, the bastard who wrecked the place got a cheap shot in after Dirge punched him, some kind of shadow magic." Vekel explained.

"Then he ran for the door, quick as a flash, but he dropped some real odd-looking flute on his way out, a skull with three eyes on it. Must've been important, he looked like his arse was on fire when he turned back to get it." Delvin added, the older man must have noticed Erza's visible surprise as he continued, "And I'm guessing you're looking for that exact person and his flute?"

"What did he look like?" Erza sighed, knowing the bar patron had caught her and would likely ask for a hefty sum of money after revealing the information.

"Average height, black hair in a spiky pony-tail, white jacket with a high collar and a dark-red undershirt, that enough for you, luv?" Delvin asked.

"Plenty, thank you, Delvin," The Requip user replied, "How much do I owe?" Yet the old man surprised Erza with his next response, he held up his hand as if to indicate that the she had no need to worry as he chuckled.

"Seeing you beat up Vekel that one time is enough payment for a year as far as I'm concerned." The eldest of the group's remark earned a laugh in agreement from Vex and a scowl from the aforementioned bartender.

"I see, thank you." Erza finished politely and turned away.

" _Why_ do you keep bringing that up?" She heard Vekel question in a clearly annoyed tone.

"Because, it's funny." Delvin replied with a shrug.

"I lost a tooth in that fist fight!" Vekel exclaimed.

"Well what did you expect going against someone with armoured gauntlets at fisticuffs?" Vex questioned him sarcastically.

"I was drunk, stupid and feeling pissed off, of course I was going to start a fight. You could have stopped me!" He tried to defend.

Erza smirked as she exited the Flagon, those three really were as thick as thieves.

* * *

"Do you see them?" Mira questioned her little sister as the group stepped off the train.

"I do." Lisanna said, still in her transformed state, "I'll come back to you guys know when I've found out where their base is, let's meet in the square." The youngest Strauss said, following the group of three men she had seen on the train discussing Lullaby. Always keeping them in sight but never getting too close, it was easy to follow the three as one wore a black and gold-striped headdress that looked more suited to a king than a dark guild member. Once they turned into a back alley, Lisanna glanced around, no one else was present in the street. Her body glowed, turning into the full-body version of her Cat Soul Take-Over, shrinking down into the form of a white house cat, began slinking over to the alleyway and hiding behind some boxes.

"Master Erigor might be mad at us for not coming back with Lullaby…" A heavyset man with dark-green hair said nervously.

"Yeah but you heard Kageyama, right Karacka?" A man with a square jaw and black pompadour asked, "The seal on Lullaby is taking longer to break than expected, Erigor might have a temper but he should know this sort of thing will take time."

The one in the headdress snorted in disbelief, "Yeah right Byard, I bet you one-hundred thousand jewel that that shadow bastard just told us that so he could get a free day in a better city."

"It shouldn't make a difference Rayule," Byard stated, "Doesn't matter when we get Lullaby, once we do, those guild masters are finished!" He said gleefully, earning a smirk from his two companions.

'Wait,' Lisanna thought, 'So their target is the guild masters conference in Clover Town?' She asked herself, trying to move slightly closer, unfortunately the wannabe pharaoh noticed her.

"Get out of here you mangy stray," He threatened, making a shooing motion with his hand. He then noticed an empty glass bottle, picked it up and then threw it at the disguised mage, "Go on, scram!" Lisanna hissed at him in response as the glass bottle shattered into shards of various sizes before running away.

'I am not mangy.' Lisanna internally grumbled to herself as she ran as quickly as she could towards Oshibana square. Even with the hustle and bustle of such an area, it didn't take her too long to locate her group, noticing Natsu's trademark scarf. She quickly scrambled up her friend and onto his shoulder.

"Well, looks like a little kitten has something to say to us." Mira said in a teasing, knowing tone.

"I found out something more, they plan on targeting the guild master conference in Clover Town tomorrow." Lisanna informed the group, their reactions to the news varied. Lucy looked nervous, Happy gulped in response and, Natsu and Elfman developed thoughtful scowls. Mira's however, was most surprising.

"Well, let's go stop them, shall we?" She asked in a sugary sweet tone and a just as sweet smile, it was almost… sickly. At that moment, the other five felt a cold shiver go down their spines as they realised Mira was full of unbridled, tranquil fury and it would not be pretty once the She-Devil chose to bare her claws, bringing her anger down on all of Eisenwald.

Without another word, Lisanna changed from a cat to a hawk and soared into the air, it was easy to spot the three Eisenwald members, once more thanks to the garish headdress of the one who tossed the bottle at her. Lisanna made a mental note to pay him back if she got the chance. Unbeknownst to those she was stalking, the Take-Over mage began circling overhead to indicate to her companions where the Eisenwald members were.

On the ground, the remaining five followed their little scout's direction, eventually leading them out of Oshibana and into a path surrounded on both sides by lush foliage. It was not long though before the peaceful atmosphere of the forest, bizarre considering they were hunting a dark guild, gave way to a much more oppressive one. Even the trees changed, all dead, stripped of their bark and not even dead leaves underneath them. At the end of the path was a looming, gothic-style mansion, even in the daytime the building seemed eerie.

As the five reached the entrance, they were joined by their sixth member, who promptly turned back into her regular human form. The group made their way down the hall lit by braziers on either side. A voice echoed down the hallway from a foreboding room at the end of it.

"So, Lullaby's seal has not yet been broken?" A sinister voice asked in annoyance.

"No, Master Erigor, we're sorry." Another voice replied nervously, Lisanna recognising it as the one called Karacka. The sound of something crashing and likely sticking into a wall as well as a terrified shriek temporarily stopped the group in their tracks.

"So long as Kageyama gives us the flute before the appointed time, it is alright." Erigor said.

"Thank you master." Karacka said.

"But be warned," The Reaper resumed ominously, "If he doesn't, it won't just be his head I'll see removed from his shoulders, are we clear, you three?"

There was an audible gulp from the three Eisenwald members before a meek response of, "Yes, master Erigor."

"Good," At that the Fairy Tail group began walking forward again, "This is it men!" The assassin continued, "A new day is dawning, one that spells the end of Fiore's government and our rise to power. Soon the guild masters of many of Fiore's most prominent guilds will be cold, and lifeless. When it is so, we will spit on the corpses of those hypocrites and laugh as the fools of the Council cower in fear. What we do is no different to soldiers, who are praised for killing, yet when we do it our rights to do so are taken from us? This will set an example to not just Fiore, but all of Ishgar!" Erigor finished, raising his scythe in the air after retrieving it from the wall and causing all of Eisenwald to erupt in cheers.

However, as the cheers died down, all the dark guild mages present noticed something, clapping. Not thunderous clapping to showcase support of the elimination of the guild masters but a slow, sarcastic clap that mocked such a decision. Every Eisenwald member present turned to the source of the clapping, Mirajane as she walked into the room.

"A bold plan," Mirajane admitted, "But pretty stupid since you just let several Fairy Tail mages follow you and waltz into your base. That and it all hinges on if Lullaby is as strong as you believe." She continued condescendingly as the other members of the team entered the room.

Erigor shot a glare at the three Eisenwald members, causing them to tense up, "I'll deal with you three later," He said before turning his leer to the FT members, "But you little flies were fools to come here, don't you know what we specialize in?" He asked with a twisted grin, lifting himself into the air as if he was completely weightless.

"How's he doing that?" Lucy asked in surprise.

"Wind magic." Happy exclaimed, it was only slight but a breeze was gently wafting through his fur.

"And you believe that just six of you is all it will take to defeat Eisenwald? We easily outnumber you at least five to one." The statement from the Reaper riled up the other guild members.

"Pretty stupid if you ask me," Rayule said, "It's going to be a slaughter."

"Bring it on!" Elfman challenged.

"It'll be a slaughter alright, but not for us." Mira spoke confidently with a smirk.

Erigor also grinned, as if it was in approval, "You're quite bloodthirsty for legal guild mages, it matters little, I've no interest in an easy kill. If any of you fairy flies think you can take me on, then come and find me!" Suddenly, a much stronger gust picked up and Erigor flew over the heads of the six Fairy Tail members.

"That coward!" Natsu roared as he turned in the direction Erigor had flown only to then be forced to the ground after a blow to the back of his head. Rayule had pre-emptively struck Natsu and looked to be holding back his laughter as the dragon slayer shook off the attack.

"Not too impressive, but then again I didn't expect much from a Fairy Tail fly." He provoked as he ran down hall.

"I'm going after those two." Natsu growled as he shook the attack off.

"Go ahead." Mira prompted.

"Mind if I go with you Natsu?" Lisanna asked, "I owe the guy who got a cheap shot in some payback." Natsu nodded, the two friends along with Happy ran after the Eisenwald members.

"Elfman, go help them." Mirajane ordered as she noticed Karacka disappear through a portal.

"Are you sure?" The younger Strauss asked in concern. Mirajane nodded and once again, showed that sickly sweet smile.

"It will be fine, Lucy and I are more than enough to handle these grunts." The eldest Strauss stated confidently.

"We are?" Lucy asked in meek surprise, seeing as they were now even more outnumbered than they would have been with the rest of the group. Unfortunately, the blonde's concerns were ignored in favour of Mirajane's next statement.

"Besides," She began as a dark aura engulfed her and quickly dissipated, she had undergone a drastic change. She now appeared to wear a somewhat-revealing, blood-red, one-piece swimsuit, her hands had now developed into 5-inch-long claws connected to armour-like skin, a stocky tail made of durable-looking scales had also emerged from her lower back. Her hair now permanently stood on end, her eyes remained blue but had lost all features, except for the pupils, and thin, crack-like scar appeared on her face, **"I've been wanting to get some exercise for a while now!"** She declared in a deeper voice as a pair of large, bat-like wings grew from her upper back, Elfman immediately heeded his sister's words.

Lucy stared in awe at Mirajane's transformation and the sheer power she was radiating gave the celestial wizard confidence though given the sheer number of Eisenwald mages, she was still fairly nervous about the potential outcome of the fight.

"You girls might be cute, but I don't appreciate you looking down on us." Byard said, charging up his magic that manifested as yellow light that encased his fists, "Let's get them!"

* * *

As the other three with Happy in tow charged down the hall they had entered from, Rayule became more visible, simply standing to the block their path. The Eisenwald member held his hands out, black tendrils shot from the ring-like accessories, the four got ready to dodge in case of a forthcoming attack. Instead, the lines went straight down and rebounded back up to the ceiling, creating vertical bar-like structures. The group stopped in their tracks.

"Sucks to be you three, Erigor knew at least a few of you would follow him, we just didn't expect it to be most of you." The dark mage declared boastfully, next to Natsu, a portal opened up. Emerging from it just as quickly as the gateway itself, Karacka leapt out with a dagger in hand, aiming to stab Natsu in the neck. The ambush would have worked, had Elfman not turned his left arm into that of Beast Soul: Iron Bull and got in between the knife and its intended target. The dagger harmlessly rebounded off the thick metallic hide and Karacka grabbed onto Elfman.

"I was going to grab the pink guy but you'll have to do." The portal-user said, pulling Elfman into his creation with him. The middle Strauss offered no resistance as he was pulled into it.

Rayule cocked an eyebrow at the lack of reaction from the other to, "What you two don't care what happens to your buddy? That's pretty cold for a couple of legal guild members." His face fell in disappointment at not being able to get a rise out of the two and registered surprise as Natsu laughed at him.

"If you think we're scared of what happens to Elfman then you're an idiot, because he's not going to go down to some random member." Natsu stated.

"Hmph," Rayule grunted, "Still doesn't matter, you two are still stuck on the other side and either me or Karacka can pick you off whenever we feel like it."

"Oh, really?" Lisanna asked rhetorically as her body glowed and changed into that of the cat form she had used previously, slipping through the bars with ease.

"Wait wha-?!" Rayule exclaimed before Lisanna's body glowed once more, turning into the partial form of her Cat Soul and landing a punch square to Rayule's face, dispelling the makeshift barrier.

"Let's go Happy!" Natsu declared, aiming to catch up to Erigor.

"Aye sir!" Happy agreed, picking his friend up and flying past Rayule.

Meanwhile, said Eisenwald member got up, gritting his teeth as he clutched his broken nose, "You bitch!" He spat at the confidently-smirking Lisanna.

"Not bad for a mangy stray, right?" Lisanna questioned, loving Rayule's surprise turn to shock.

"That was you?!" Rayule asked through gritted teeth as he began to shake in anger, readying his magic once again, "Time to put you down like the stray you are!"

* * *

"Happy, make a sharp right," Natsu ordered, "That's where Erigor's scent is coming from."

"Aye sir." Happy said as he flew Natsu up a path that went further into the dead forest. Eventually, the two arrived at a clearing, surrounded by dense fog.

"This is where it ends." Natsu explained.

"Yeah, but where's Erigor?" Happy asked as he looked around nervously.

"So, the only one who comes to challenge me, is one measly fly and his pet cat?" Erigor's mocking voice asked from the fog, a powerful blast of wind dispersed the mist, revealing the Surroundings that were peppered with makeshift, but poorly-maintained crosses. The Eisenwald leader was hovering on the duo's level. A sadistic grin from the Eisenwald leader was succeeded by his next remark, "Welcome to my graveyard, I'm sure you'll make a fine addition to the contracts buried here."

"You can try," Natsu said as his fists ignited, "Let's see if you can kill a dragon!"

* * *

Erza had begun wandering throughout Magnolia, looking for anyone matching the description given to her by Delvin. It was by sheer chance that she was walking to a masseuse and a man fitting it walked right out in front of her, initially being tipped off by the left eye that was swollen with a purple hue. Thinking quickly, she stepped into an alleyway.

"Man that felt great!" The man muttered to himself in satisfaction, "Even if that brute got a hit in I get to spend a day in Magnolia and tomorrow, Lullaby will make Eisenwald the best guild in Fiore, it's a win-win for me."

Erza had heard enough, it was time to act, she summoned a sword to her hand. Revealing herself from her hiding spot and held the tip of the sword to his throat. The man looked surprised but quickly composed himself and put his hands up in a surrender gesture, "Now what can I do for a beautiful woman like you?" He asked in a suave tone.

"Cut the crap," Erza stated, "You're a member of Eisenwald and I know you're in possession of Lullaby, I suggest you hand it over."

"Not going to happen." Kageyama said, quite literally sinking into the ground and appearing several feet away from the Fairy Tail mage. Erza jumped back, aiming to put distance between herself and the man in the event that he had surprises in store, "If you want Lullaby so badly…" The shadow user said as his own shadow split into several sections, each sharpening to a point, "Come and take it from me!"

Unbeknownst to either of the two combatants, the three purple eyes of the flute began glowing a bright purple colour…

* * *

A/N: And roll credits! First chapter of 2018! Sorry I meant to update on Christmas but life just got in the way. Anyway, it should also be worth noting that I don't own Vekel, Delvin, Vex or Dirge, those characters actually belong to Bethesda Softworks and are from the game ES5: Skyrim. I did come up with the name Nocturnal's Mark for them and rest assured, they will appear again, I can't promise it will be too often, but I happen to like the idea of using the Thieves Guild characters to fill in certain potential roles in the series I feel were either overlooked or just not implemented at all. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you guys have a great 2018!


	8. Clash! Fairy Tail vs Eisenwald!

The blinding light that had filled Elfman's vision as he was dragged through the portal dissipated, allowing the middle Strauss to see again as he found himself in a room lit by more torches. The light revealing a series of staircases as it reflected off metal cogs both great and small in size. The machinery still turned, powering the hands of the clockface.

"Welcome to the clock tower," Karacka's voice rang out, causing Elfman to tense in preparation for what was to come, the heavyset man's top half appeared from a portal, "With my phasing magic I can strike from anywhere I want and with all the nooks and cranny's in this place, assassination is like child's play!"

"Then bring it on!" Elfman challenged, "If you think I'm scared you've got another thing coming!"

"You may not feel that way now, but by the end of this, you'll be begging for mercy." The Eisenwald member said, disappearing into his creation again. Elfman primed his Black Bull beast arm, looking around warily even if he couldn't see where his opponent would come from.

The glint of light reflecting off metal was the first thing to alert him, the second was the shooting pain in his beast arm. Despite the slight cut in it, the arm wasn't bleeding, at least not profusely. Elfman shot it forward to try and grab the Eisenwald mage but he quite literally slipped through his fingers, sporting a mocking grin that only further frustrated the middle Strauss. Even though it was only a flesh wound, the attack put Elfman on edge.

The next strike came shortly after, this time cutting into Elfman's leg, once again leaving a shallow cut. Just as before, Karacka simply phased through Elfman's grip and disappeared.

"Quit the circus act and fight me like a real man!" Elfman bellowed angrily.

"The best techniques are passed on by survivors, the way I fight isn't something for you to dictate. Face it, on this playing field you don't stand a chance." The Eisenwald member retorted. The take-over user's arm glowed again, prompting Karacka to leap into action once again, believing the transformation would make little difference. As he thrust the dagger forward however, there was a sudden burst of intense heat, causing the dark mage to recoil and drop the knife, "What the-!"

Elfman's right arm was wreathed in flames, smirking at having got the drop on Karacka. He opened his enclosed fist, causing the fire to dissipate and reveal the dramatic change the middle Strauss's arm had undergone. Burnt orange scales now covered the entirety of the arm, his nails had been replaced with black, three-inch claws and red-hot embers still licked along the limb, "Beast Arm: Fire Drake." He stated, "Good luck getting close to me when I've got this out."

"Don't need to." Karacka replied condescendingly, Elfman raise an eyebrow in a confused expression before he felt it. His Beast Arm and left leg were beginning to feel heavy, forcing him to take a knee, "The poison on my dagger is quite effective, I used just enough so that it wouldn't do its work too quickly, soon you'll be completely paralysed and you won't be able to stop me driving my knife through your heart."

Elfman's frame began to shake and a low sound began emanating from the take-over user, "Scared already? You should be." Karacka said with smug satisfaction. That's when the sound Elfman was producing became louder, surprising the Eisenwald member as he realised his opponent was not shaking out of fear and choking back sobs, he was laughing.

"There's a lot of creatures with this kind of toxin living across Ishgar," Elfman stated, "Fiore though doesn't have any indigenous animals with it, the closest one I can guess, is the Bosco giant salamander." He continued, Karacka was visibly shocked by the spot-on deduction, even if it was partly a guess.

"You're actually right," Karacka said, regaining his composure, "So you know a thing or two about wildlife, am I supposed to be impressed?" He asked snidely.

"No, you should be scared though," Elfman retorted, "Shame I couldn't have Fire Drake out longer than I wanted to but the situation requires it." Elfman's right arm glowed once more, changing from Fire Drake into yet another new form. The arm was now black and appeared slimy, complemented by a bright-green, striped reticulation that ended at his hand which had also changed so that the pinky and ring, as well as middle and index fingers had fused to create three digits, "Beast Arm: Salamander."

Karacka stumbled back, "That's-!"

"The arm a Bosco giant salamander and since I have its poison, my take-over magic can help my body produce an antivenom to it." With the statement, Karacka knew he had limited time before Elfman gained control of his arm and leg again. Grabbing the dagger, Karacka ran at the still-downed mage, not noticing that Elfman was beginning to inhale. The phasing magic user brought his arm back, aiming to slash the blade across Elfman's throat in a backhand. Before he could, Elfman exhaled a cloud of green mist.

Realising what the mist was, Karacka tried to back away in a futile attempt to avoid the paralysing toxins, flailing his arms wildly in desperation, trying to waft the vapour away. Caught up in his panic, he didn't realise just how close he was getting to the edge and as the ground disappeared from behind him, he fell back. Already the feeling in his arms was going, it would be utterly useless to try and grab the edge.

Fear gripped the criminal as he realised his demise was imminent, with the muscle relaxant-like nature of the poison he couldn't even scream. His eyes closed as he braced himself for the inevitable plummet into the clock's mechanism, yet his descent was halted almost as quickly as it had begun. Eyes snapping open again, he realised he was indeed suspended by one leg above the gears threatening to crush him. Over the methodical clicking of the cogs he could hear grunting and realised that only one other person could have caught him in time.

His perplexed state lasted until he was hoisted back onto the safety of the platform and splayed out like a starfish, then Elfman's voice spoke up.

"You're probably wondering, 'Why would I save you?'. You're a criminal specialising in assassination, blood is on your hands whether directly or complicit in your guild's actions. It would have been easy to let you fall, one less scumbag in the world at least, but the truth is I can't bring myself to take someone's life no matter how bad they are. Plus, I'd rather you face justice living out a sentence than get out of it the easy way through death." Elfman got up, beginning to walk away, "I can find the exit on my own, just stay there until the Rune Knights come because like it or not this is the day your guild gets disbanded."

All Karacka could do was lay where he was, left with just his thoughts, staring at the ceiling.

* * *

Without a word, Rayule used his Urumi magic to strike Lisanna, threatening to impale the youngest Strauss. Though, Lisanna managed to pull off various acrobatics so the cables only punched small holes in the stone. The dark mage clenched his fists and pulled, tearing the bricks his cables had stuck in from the wall. Pulling them down in a vertical strike, Lisanna was only able to avoid some of them in the confined space, one of the blocks catching her on the left side of her forehead and causing a deep gash. She hissed in pain, instinctively bringing her transformed hand up to the wound despite the dizziness.

A pair of the cables wrapped around Lisanna's neck in an attempt to asphyxiate her, "Well isn't this funny? Collared like a real animal." At his remark, Lisanna attempted to slash the cables apart with her claws, to no avail, "It's no use, my Urumi cables are as tough as any superalloy, cutting them is practically useless."

"Maybe so," Lisanna managed to say through the ever-tightening strangle hold before shifting into her partial Mammoth Soul, "The cables might be strong, but let's see how strong you are." She stated, grabbing both cables with one hand and pulling as hard as she could, against her increased strength Rayule could do little to resist the pull. Once he was within arm's reach, Lisanna punched him square in the face, resulting in a cracking sound as he was flung back. The tightening around her throat ceased and Lisanna jerked out of the now-loosened grip.

Rayule began screaming, which came out muffled as a result of clutching his face. Despite the fact that his injury would still be putting him in incredible pain, the dark mage managed to stand up, glaring at Lisanna with a look of pure fury, "No one messes with Eisenwald!" Rayule stated, extending the strands in an attempt to bind Lisanna.

"Really? Because, I just did." Lisanna retorted, using the natural agility of her Cat Soul to avoid the constriction, rebound off the wall behind her and launch herself at the dark guild mage.

Rayule instead grinned at the opportunity to attack with little chance of his opponent avoiding it, "You're dead!" He cried, focussing all of the cables into a singular point.

"Actually," Lisanna began, beginning to change into the partial form of her Porcupine Soul and using the quills on her arms to deflect the attack, "I feel quite alive." She continued, forcing the cables away from her. Getting onto all fours, she launched the quills on her back, the relatively confined space together with the rapid speed of the projectiles meant Rayule didn't stand a chance of avoiding the barrage as it launched him through a wall and into another hallway that was better lit with chandeliers of varying sizes.

"Had enough already?" The take-over user questioned, standing in the entryway created by her attack.

"That was a lucky shot, nothing more." Rayule spat, standing up despite several slightly bleeding cuts and puncture wounds. Even with his injuries he grinned, they had given him an idea, "That attack should have turned me into a pin cushion, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared to take someone's life."

"Not really," Lisanna responded, her opponent's expression quickly faltering, "I don't want to needlessly kill someone and besides," She continued, morphing her form so now she only had her right arm changed to that of her Mammoth Soul, "For an assassin, you're not too threatening." She finished in a taunting manner.

At that, Rayule's face twisted into a snarl at the thought of this stuck-up legal guild wizard mocking him, "Fool!" He bellowed as the cables he used began to grow in length, moving in a similar manner to snakes and taking little notice that Lisanna was sifting through several small rocks among the debris around them, "I am Rayule the Crypt Keeper, Eisenwald's personal undertaker." Though he had just started on a tirade, Lisanna had begun to feel the weight of a rock roughly the size of a cricket ball in her hand, "Do not underestimate me, I personally saw to the end of lowly thugs who tried to destroy us for money, they thought bringing only one wizard of their own was enough, Erigor made short work of him." Lisanna promptly threw the rock in such a way that it went far above Rayule's head, "By this time tomorrow, we will be known as the greatest assassins in all of Fi-!"

With a loud crash, the chandelier just above Rayule landed on him, knocking him out cold. Lisanna hastily smothered the flames on the candle wicks, thankfully, none of Rayule's clothing had caught fire. Using her increased strength, the youngest Strauss carefully dismantled the chandelier, and reshaped the metal to bind the Eisemwald mage's arms, legs and hands. The take-over mage took on a thoughtful pose, she was still feeling irritated with the man, not just for the 'mangy stray' comment but for the fact he had plotted to murder the guild masters, among them Makarov. In this situation, she felt an unshakable desire to be especially petty towards him. Looking around for a potential solution, she soon came up with an idea, punctuated by a sly grin.

A few moments later, after crushing some of the rubble into a fine powder, Lisanna felt especially proud of her handwork as she went looking for her team. Leaving behind Rayule, now with a cat's whiskers, nose and patch around the eye drawn in her impromptu face paint. To top it all off, the word 'mangy' had been scrawled across his forehead. It would provide the Rune Knights with a good laugh at the very least.

* * *

The large Eisenwald force charged toward Mira and Lucy, the former grinned smugly, forming a sphere of darkness between her palms, **"Soul Extinction!"** She said, releasing the attack as a beam that cut a swathe through the charging mages, easily almost halving their numbers. A scared silence fell over the remaining mages as they stopped in their tracks, clearly intimidated by her strength.

"Woah…" Lucy said in awe of her ally's strength, glad to have Mirajane on her side.

"So, the power of the She-Devil is true," Byard stated, garnering the attention of the S-Class mage, "But let's see if you can take me on." He finished while making a goading gesture with his hands.

" **Simple enough."** Mira said with an amused smirk at the idea that he could withstand one of her attacks, aiming the palm of her hand at him, three large, black rings shot from her outstretched limb, **"Dark Pulse."**

"Stendarr's Aura!" Byard declared, bringing his light-encased fists together, causing the light to envelope him in a spherical shape. Mirajane's attack harmlessly struck the shield, causing genuine surprise in the eldest Strauss, "You may be able to take control of demons but the Darkness magic they utilize is easily snuffed out by my Light magic."

Mirajane clicked her tongue in annoyance, this one would be annoying to deal with but even if her Darkness magic couldn't affect him, she still had superior physical strength and if she was lucky, more experience in melee combat, **"Lucy?"** The She-Devil asked.

"Yeah?" The blonde asked in response.

" **Keep the rest of these guys occupied, show me what your spirits can do, I'll help if you need it."** Mira said, before Lucy could properly respond, she had already leapt at Byard.

Most of the remaining force turned to her, singling her out as an easy target, it was then that the reality of the situation dawned on her, "Well, shit." She swore, even if she rarely used such language, it summed up her current predicament quite nicely.

With a collective battle cry, her opponents ran at her in the belief that she alone wouldn't be enough to handle them, and in many ways, they were right. In a panic, Lucy grabbed her key ring and selected a key, "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" With his signature bellow, the humanoid bull emerged from the ground, "What do ya want me to do miss Luuucy?" Her Celestial Spirit asked eagerly, though given the horde of charging mages, even Taurus could figure it out.

"I need your help taking these guys down." Lucy firmly commanded.

"Anything for yooouuu!" He declared, unsheathing his battle axe before bringing it down in a vertical strike, this didn't sway the Eisenwald mages as none of them were currently within striking distance. Taurus grinned at their determination or rather stupidity to keep running, while not the most intelligent of spirits he knew his way around combat strategy and anyone who ran at an opponent with no prior knowledge of their abilities deserved to have their asses kicked. "Earth Power!" He roared as soon as his axe dug into the stone floor, the earth becoming upturned in a straight line that headed straight for the dark guild mages, as soon as it reached them there was a sudden explosion, causing both stone fragments and Eisenwald wizards to go flying.

While it was enough to rattle the remaining mages, it wasn't enough for the ones targeting her to lose hope, soon mounting another charge.

"Hey, Miss Lucy, it might be better to summon someone else to fight with me." Taurus suggested.

"But-" Lucy began to speak up, until she realized that in a way, Taurus was right. At some point, she would need to start summoning multiple spirits eventually. Though, Aquarius required water to summon even if she wasn't on vacation with the boyfriend she had mentioned to Lucy numerous she was off the table and Cancer was too powerful for her to summon at the moment alongside Taurus.

Thus, there was only one option, to summon her most recently acquired Zodiac, "Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" Lucy felt significant drain on her magic at summoning two Zodiacs in succession but still managed to remain standing. Though, that was the most of what she could do as it was keeping all of her willpower to stop from falling over, she didn't even have the energy to crack her whip.

"Princess, I am grateful for you summoning me so soon." Virgo said, "Though Taurus, next time, make sure _one-hundred_ percent that there won't be any adverse effects on her." She continued in a chiding manner to her fellow Zodiac.

Lucy was surprised as Virgo normally seemed quite polite towards almost anyone, looking up, Virgo's attire was completely different to the morning. She no longer wore her maid's outfit, instead she wore black shorts with a white lining to the seams and a top that was the same colour. Her midriff, arms and any part of her leg below the top of her knees were exposed. On her hands and feet were wrappings typically seen being worn by martial artists. The maid outfit was clearly misleading as Virgo had a very athletic figure.

"Fine, fine, don't bite my head off." Taurus responded, giving a mock surrender gesture.

"If I could, I would," Virgo retorted, "Admittedly, we're a strong combination but it was still reckless to convince her summon another spirit." The bull spirit snorted at that but didn't offer anything to rebuke the statement.

"I'll keep Miss Lucy safe, you just do your job." Taurus commanded, Virgo complied, rushing towards the Eisenwald horde. Naturally, they assumed a woman clad in something that provided little in terms of defence would be easy to beat, they were wrong.

Before the spirit and her multitude of opponents clashed, she halted, bringing her arms up in a guard similar to that of a boxer. The first unlucky mage to rush her wasn't expecting it when she lashed out with kick to the gut hard enough to send him flying back and cut into the crowd, knocking over several of his comrades in the process.

Now that she had shown her physical strength, the others were more careful in their approach but nonetheless knew they would be doomed to fight her toe-to-toe. One mage tried his luck with a fire spell emitted from an oaken staff, yet Virgo disappeared into the ground as if sinking into some kind of fast-acting quicksand, the earth seemed to ripple like water before settling as if it had never been disturbed.

Confusion was evident among the wizards who hadn't yet been knocked down but given the immediate threat was currently gone, they returned their attention to Lucy and Taurus. Finally deciding to coordinate themselves, those who primarily used melee weapons led a charge whilst those who possessed ranged magic stood back and began casting spells to fire in an arc formation in order to hit the pair.

Taurus smirked, rapping the pommel of his battle-axe on the ground, "Earth Dome!" Once the construct was up fully, the bull spirit pulled Lucy close to him, turning his back to the ranged attacks. Even with the regenerative abilities of the protection, even he wasn't sure it would stand up to a mass onslaught of spells.

As expected, there was a thunderous hammering on the outside of the dome, a cacophony that threatened to tear through the walls and bring the dome down on the duo's heads. Then, all fell silent, the only sound being that of the two's breathing. Cautiously, Taurus lowered the dome, both were met with cries of alarm, largely to demand what was going. As he released Lucy from his protective embrace, the blonde could see just what had… somehow happened.

Before her was the Eisenwald force, yet the only way to describe their current situation was that they had sunk into the stone then the ground had become solid again. Many were caught up to their waists with at least one arm partially trapped.

"What, happened?" Lucy asked.

"I did." Virgo's voice responded as the maid spirit rose from the ground, "You see, Princess, Taurus and I can both manipulate the earth. Whereas Taurus bends the earth in ways that keep it a completely solid structure, I effectively liquidise it for brief periods of time, allowing me to pull off techniques such as being able to trap my opponents."

"Why didn't you do that with Lisanna?" Lucy asked, she didn't doubt her friend's ability but surely with such an ability, Virgo could have defeated her?

Virgo's lip curled up at that, "Perceptive of you, Princess. The form Everlue kept me in, while suited to his preferences also gave me a far less subtle approach to combat. While I can hold my own, I'm arguably the weakest of the Zodiac, using my magic in conjunction with maintaining a form so different to my default maid appearance would have forced a gate closure and sent me back to the Celestial Spirit World hence why I didn't or rather _couldn't_ use my earth manipulation abilities against Miss Lisanna."

"I see." Lucy said, impressed that Virgo was good in both service and combat.

However, despite their trapped state, the dark wizards still kept up a tirade of abuse and jeers aimed at the three. "You two might wanna cover your ears." Taurus advised, having enough of the attitude, he walked up as close as he could get to them, inhaled and…

Mira lunged for Byard, a diagonal slash aiming to cut into him, regardless, Byard managed to avoid the attack, "Sun's Fire!" The Eisenwald mage said, launching several balls of light at Mirajane with her enhanced reflexes, Mira was able to manoeuvre through the barrage. Yet even she could feel that the projectiles were off somehow as they nearly grazed her.

" **That magic is quite specialised isn't it?"** Mirajane noted.

"Noticed that, huh?" Byard responded, "This is more for making the undead, dead again but it's just as effective on the living." He continued, sending a stream of light at Mirajane.

" **The undead? A vampire hunter?"** Mirajane questioned in surprise as she launched her own stream that collided with Byard's which she was eventually forced to relent as his attacked pushed back her own.

"No, nothing as suicidal as that but if someone needs to make sure an enemy can't return from the dead or just go waltzing out of their crypt, I'm the guy for the job. Vampire hunters are still regulated by the council, stuck following rules when there are plenty of other threats across the continent. After our rights are restored, the council will be next, then justice can be exacted upon the undead and those who would seek to raise them."

" **I wouldn't take you as a pious man."** Mirajane sneered, diving towards Byard from her position above.

"And I'm not." He replied, throwing a light-infused fist as she got close and she countered with her own. Once their fists connected, both almost instantly recoiled before putting distance between each other.

" **That's odd."** Mirajane commented.

"What's odd about it?" He demanded angrily.

" **Well, if you're really trained to do that, recite the prayer you say to yourself before a fight with the undead."**

"Uh…" Byard started, beginning to scowl when Mirajane condescendingly smirked at him, "Oh ye-"

" **I'm gonna stop you right there,"** Mirajane interrupted, **"Maybe you were once the apprentice to a paladin of sorts but you never completed your training, if you had you would no there's no such vows you make. That also explains why your magic is so unrefined. Tell me, am I right?"**

"And what does it matter to you?!" Byard demanded caustically, only becoming more annoyed at Mirajane's smug expression once she realised she was right.

" **It matters to me because you're making a disgrace of people who actually do a noble job by using their magic to combat necromancers, liches and vampires, real blights on society. In comparison to them, you're nothing but a poser boasting about his apparent skill in slaying the undead."** Mirajane stated.

"What would you know about fighting those types of monsters?!" He roared in fury, charging straight at Mirajane.

" **I know enough,"** Mira stated succinctly, avoiding the wild swings Byard was throwing with ease, **"I know they're dangerous, unless you destroy the heart and the head, an undead adversary will undoubtably come back to bite you in the ass and that they're vulnerable to silver."** She continued as she kept sidestepping every attack Byard made, which only served to add to his frustration, **"I also know that losing your cool in a fight, especially against those kinds of creatures is the worst thing to do, the same applies to demons."** She finished as Byard threw another punch, Mirajane twirled and swung her muscular tail straight into his torso. From the sound of things, a couple of Byard's ribs cracked and the wind was driven out of him.

" **You're afraid of them,"** She stated, upper cutting the man and with her enhanced strength, he was made airborne, **"Rightly so, I suppose,"** She said, flying quickly up to his level and grabbing him by the shoulders, **"But you have the potential to do good believe it or not, no matter what Erigor has been filling your head with."** At that she flew down, still clutching her opponent and promptly smashed him into the stone floor.

Miraculously, Byard was still conscious, yet he dared not move as one set of Mirajane's claws were wrapped around his throat. The other was ready to strike him, **"Do me a favour, will you?"** Mira asked, she didn't wait for a verbal response as Byard's expression stated his confusion, **"Reflect on everything that's happened. If you ran away from your duties, go back to them and if you just happened to pick up a book go find some one to help refine your use of that Dawn magic."** The man's eyes widened briefly at her correct statement on what his magic truly was before Mirajane's rough-skinned hand hit him square in the face, his vision went almost completely dark, Mira's final statement ringing in his ears before he finally slipped into unconsciousness.

Looking away from the downed mage, Mira saw the Eisenwald grunts caught in their unusual position as well as Lucy's two strange, new companions, "Shut it!" The bull-like one suddenly bellowed, silencing the rowdy group.

"Well, you've been busy Lucy." Mira said, her voice shifting to its usual tone as she changed back to normal. Shaking her head once as her hair fell back down from its raised position.

Evidently this caused a bizarre reaction in Virgo and Taurus, their eyes going wide and, in their minds, seeing the eldest Strauss move slower than she appeared in a sudden analysis of her beauty. Her vibrant blue eyes, even her close-lipped smile was entrancing and the flick of her snow-white hair was what finally caused the Bull and the Maiden's next action. Both suddenly moved directly in front of Mira, got on one knee and head bowed humbly with a bouquet of flowers each they had managed to spontaneously produce.

"Never in my life as a spirit have I seen an angel fallen to heaven, if you wish milady, I would be honoured for you to accept these flowers." Taurus said.

"As would I, Princess, but their beauty pales in comparison to yourself." Virgo said, for once concurring with Taurus.

"When did you start acting like a gentleman?" Lucy addressed Taurus in surprise, "Aren't you supposed to call me Princess?" She asked Virgo, "And why are you two bowing to her in the first place?"

"It's fine Lucy, sorry to cause you such trouble," Mirajane said bashfully, accepting both bouquets "But, I do think a reward is in order for their hard work, both of you raise your heads and look at me." The two did so, each receiving a kiss on the cheek that caused a very different reaction in either spirit. The only common aspect was the tow of them blushing hard enough to change their faces pink but while Taurus adopted a gleeful smile and fell to the side clearly in a joy-filled daydream, Virgo put her head down, avoiding eye contact with Mirajane once more.

"P-princess Lucy?" Virgo spoke up, "P-permission to go back to the Celestial Spirit world?" She asked.

"Yeah me too?" Taurus agreed, still enjoying whatever daydream he was having about Mira.

"Okay you two." Lucy sighed in a good-natured way, waving their respective keys and the two disappeared.

"They seemed nice." Mira commented.

"I guess they are, if a little weird." Lucy agreed, truthfully a bit sheepish that that was Mirajane's first time encountering her spirits.

"Mira, Lucy!" A familiar, deep voice to the two bellowed, looking to see Elfman with Lisanna at his side, "I knew you could take them all on!" He said encouragingly.

"Well, I handled one guy mainly, just to knock some sense into him. Lucy's spirits handled the rest."

"I see, your spirits are really manly!" Elfman stated, finally taking note of the position of the grunts.

"You guys okay?" Lisanna asked, at their nods, she prompted another question, "Where's Natsu?"

"Don't know," Mira responded, becoming slightly concerned about their friend as he was facing the guild master of Eisenwald, "I hope he's okay."

"Let's go find him." Elfman suggested, the others clearly agreed, the four choosing to head for the entrance of the guild hall.

* * *

"A dragon?" Erigor asked sceptically, "I take it you're supposed to be one of those so-called 'Dragon Slayers'? I don't buy it, to me your little more than an above-average fire mage." He finished condescendingly.

"I'll make you eat those words and burn you to a crisp, windbag." Natsu growled, igniting his fists, "Think you can keep up with him, Happy?"

"Aye sir." His friend replied.

"Really? Don't kid yourself, brat. Wind Sickles." He said, swinging his massive scythe in quick succession to form several large, sickle-shaped gusts of wind. The two avoided all but the last one which crashed into Natsu, nearly knocking him from the air, but Happy managed to correct him despite the disturbance.

"Strange, that attack normally bifurcates its victims, I must be losing my edge." Erigor said pridefully, as Natsu propelled himself towards him with his flames, he let loose more Wind Sickles. Yet this time, none of the attacks landed as Happy managed to manoeuvre Natsu through them. If he hadn't jumped then put up the metal edge of his scythe to block, Natsu would have struck him.

"Hmph," Erigor retreated upwards, "You use your flames to both move _and_ attack, you might actually be a bit more of a challenge than I thought."

"If you want that, come and fight me mano a mano! Don't just move away like a coward!" The Fire Dragon Slayer challenged.

"Don't be cocky, brat," Erigor retorted, making a sweeping motion with his hand, a light gust began to rise from underneath Natsu before erupting into a fearsome, tornado-like gale, "Storm Breaker!"

Natsu and Happy's screams was cut off from being engulfed by the harsh winds. Natsu did his best to shield Happy from the attack and subsequent fall, "You okay?" He asked in worry.

"Yeah," Happy said, "I got a few cuts, but I'll be okay." Natsu grinned at that and quickly, the duo turned their attention back to Erigor.

"What?" Erigor questioned, genuinely surprised, "My Storm Breaker rips all who enter it to shreds, for you to not even seem hurt, it's impossible."

"No, it isn't," Natsu stated, "I'm more than just some fire wizard like you think, I'm Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel the great Fire Dragon. I'll show you the strength he passed onto me!" He declared, beginning to inhale, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Storm Wall!" Erigor said, despite the feeling it wasn't going to work, he kept the barrier up anyway to at least minimize the damage but the attack simply fizzled out as soon as it connected with his defence, "Ha, look at that," The Reaper stated, cracking a malicious grin, "The mighty cry of a dragon, defeated by one of my most fundamental spells!"

"That being said, I think it's time we put a stop to this silly game we're playing."

"Bring it on you creep!" The Fire Dragon Slayer responded.

"As you wish, Storm Mail!" With a full, clockwise swing of his weapon, wind began to swirl all around Erigor. It encompassed him fully and vaguely took on the wind user's shape, the man himself was no longer visible but voice was still clear as day despite the howling wind around him.

"That's it?" Natsu asked smugly, flaring up the fire in his right hand, "I'll finish this in one blow! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Lunging for the Eisenwald guild master, Natsu lashed out but just before he reached Erigor, the fire around his hand was snuffed out. Happy barely had time to pull his friend back from imminent danger as he was carried forward by the momentum of his actions.

"You see it now? It matters little if you were indeed taught to wield the fire of a dragon, if the gust is strong enough, any flame will be blown out like a pathetic ember on a candle wick!"

"Coward!" Natsu shouted, "If you think that wind barrier will protect you, you've got another thing coming!"

"Ha, I just proved it will extinguish any flame that gets too close to me and it will repel any plain, old physical attack you can muster," Erigor said triumphantly, "My Storm Mail is indestructible and I've made you helpless without your abilities!"

"Happy, I know it's intense, let's see if we can push through!" Natsu ordered.

"Aye sir!" With Happy's speed being accelerated by Natsu's flames, they came at Erigor like a bullet. It was no use however as the wind user simply remained still, his Storm Mail blew outwards, slowing them down before blowing them back.

"Sorry Natsu, it's no good," Happy said solemnly, "In these winds it's like being in a typhoon."

"Listen to your cat, fly." Erigor taunted, "You or your fellow little flies can't stop what is to come, now scatter to the wind! Emera Baram!" The already powerful gusts began to pick up even more speed beginning to uproot some of the crosses and even a few skeletal remains that were soon ripped apart.

"That spell is dangerous Natsu, I can feel it, we can't let it hit us." Happy said.

Erigor unleashed his attack and even with Natsu trying to heed Happy's warning, the cyclone-like attack pulled the two towards it. They were brought down by the devastating attack and forcibly crashed against the ground before being forced along it by the wind.

Happy quivered struggling to stand as he was beaten up all over after being buffeted from the attack, "Natsu… no" He managed to call out weakly, though his friend was completely motionless.

"I'm surprised you're both still intact after my Emera Baram," Erigor said, "Fear not though, soon you, all of your little friends and the guild masters will join each other! Lullaby shall be our salvation!"

"That stupid flute," Natsu spoke up, "Is that and your grand plan all you ever talk about?" He asked angrily, "If you want to hurt everyone else, you've got to go through me and believe me, that's not going to happen. Not on my watch!" Throughout the statements, flames had begun to be emitted off of Natsu's body.

"Your fancy little trick is only pissing me off even more!" Now the flames intensified so that they could easily be classified as a bonfire. In Natsu's rage, Happy and even Erigor had begun to notice something his flames were burning so hot that they were changing the direction of the wind. That's when Happy came up with a brilliant idea, so long as his hunch was right.

"Natsu!" Happy called, garnering his attention, "You stink! Let's just go and get Gray, he could handle this way better than you!"

Natsu looked utterly betrayed, so much so that for a single second his flames were extinguished completely then once Happy's statement sunk in the flames came back, brighter and burning more intensely than ever, "What did you just say?!"

"Flames of Emotion?" Erigor mumbled, as his Storm Mail was finally torn away completely, 'How, strengthening magic with such a thing is considered a lost art. It's destroyed my Storm Mail.' He thought, "Damn you!"

"I'm gonna take you down!" Natsu roared, ignoring Erigor's curse and leaping straight at him.

'Is this truly it?' Erigor internally questioned as Natsu clotheslined him in the torso.

"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu declared, driving his arm with even more force to toss Erigor through several of the dead trees surrounding them.

'The might of a Dragon Slayer, it truly is like no other…' Was Erigor's last thought before his body stopped crashing through the undergrowth.

"Woo, we did it Natsu!" Happy exclaimed well… happily.

" _We?"_ Natsu implied sarcastically, "You didn't do anything."

"Actually," The cat began, "Me saying that is what gave your flames the heat they needed to beat Erigor's Storm Mail. See, your flames heated the air around it, creating a vertical updraft and also creating a low-pressure area. Wind always blows from high-pressure to low-pressure areas."

"What?" Natsu asked, in all honesty the Dragon Slayer rarely cared for the nuances of such things despite his combat savviness. Though he did realise Happy had a hand in his victory, "I guess, still not really sure how I pulled off that last attack though." He said, putting his hands on the back of his head.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lisanna called, the group had seen the column of fire shortly after exiting Eisenwald's guild hall, so it was fairly easy to tell where their friend was.

He gave a toothy grin at the approach of the other members of his group, "Good job Natsu," Mira complimented, "That being said…" She continued, flicking him hard in the forehead, "That's for being too slow."

"Hey, you guys had to deal with the grunts, I took on the guild master!" Natsu tried to reason in comical indignance, though it just caused the rest of them to burst out laughing. As they set off to inform the Rune Knights of Eisenwald's destruction, they couldn't help but wonder how Erza would be getting along.

* * *

Erza quickly brought her sword up, beginning to parry the spear-like shadows her opponent conjured up. That is until she wasn't able to defend against a twin-pronged shadow as one clashed with her blade, the other extended before Erza could move her sword. She was able to move her head out of the way but the second prong still managed to cut into her right cheek. The slightest trickle of blood ran down from the wound.

"You're pretty fast to only get a single scratch, but that's just one weapon, let's see how you stand," He said, placing a hand on the ground, "Against my Orochi Shadow!" A projectile was launched at Erza, shaped like a great beast with eight snake heads and eight snake tails.

The re-quip mage stood strong, glowing as the magical construct was about to strike her, a dust cloud was thrown up as part of the street was destroyed with the attack, "Got her," The shadow user stated before the cloud was suddenly dispersed by a gust, "Huh-?"

Erza was revealed, no additional damage to her and wearing a different set of armour. The large skirt that seemed to be made of a lightweight chain mail rippled with the blast of air. A pair of wings made of metallic plates sprouted from the breastplate that bore a resemblance to the same plates that made up her wings protected her torso. The greaves ad gauntlets had also changed with the armour to match the design of her armour. However, about a dozen more swords levitated above her head.

"Oh, I see," The dark mage said, "You must be the famous Erza 'Titania' Scarlet, the youngest re-quip mage who can change her armour. If that's the case, I may as well introduce myself, I'm Kageyama, second in command of Eisenwald and tamer of shadows."

"Is that so?" A new voice said tauntingly, not realising the two had an audience, they both turned to the source of the voice. How they hadn't noticed him before was a mystery to the two, dressed in a pitch-black outfit, he stuck out like a sore thumb against the buildings of Magnolia in daylight hours. While it looked fancy, it seemed to be made of leather, yet the main discernible feature on the cuirass was that of a bird, its wings raised above its head to depict flight. Two swords were at his hips. A grey cowl covered his face, only revealing that he was dark-skinned with brown eyes. From his position of his legs dangling over the edge, the newcomer jumped down, despite the height he landed from he was not injured by the fall, and perhaps more surprisingly, no sound was produced.

"Apologies to just drop in like this, Erza." The man said.

"How do you know my name?" She asked in suspicion, noting that the hilts of his weapons bore the same design that was on his chest piece.

"Recognize this symbol?" He asked in response.

Erza got the answer almost immediately, "It's the guild mark of Nocturnal's Mark, you're a member?"

The man's lips curled into a smirk before he spoke proudly, "Not just any member, I'm the guild master, Gallus."

"Strange," Erza commented, "I thought your guild preferred staying out of Fairy Tail's business?"

"While that is true," Gallus began, "This trouble maker poses a threat to Magnolia if he truly has Lullaby and that's bad for business." He explained.

"Fine, let's just- Where did he go?!" She exclaimed, the Eisenwald mage had skulked away during the brief conversation the two had had.

"Keep calm," Gallus stated, "The fool thinks he can evade me by hiding in the shadows, unfortunately for him, that's my forte. Try to keep up." He said, sinking into the wall as if becoming part of the shadows. If Erza had blinked she would have missed the quick movement of another shadow that split away from the one Gallus had sunk into.

"He must have the same magic as Kageyama." Erza deduced, quickly swapping out her Heaven's Wheel armour for set that shared many similarities to it albeit had large, bat-like wings on the back, her Black Wing armour, causing the swords above her to disappear. She quickly began to follow Gallus.

"Dammit!" Kageyama swore, moving through the shadows of Magnolia's streets to put as much distance between himself and the other two as possible, "First that pesky S-Class fly turned up then a god's damned guild master! I swear this mission almost isn't worth the trouble." He muttered to himself.

"Then you won't mind if I take that flute off your hands?" The voice belonging to the guy from before asked. Kageyama turned around in shock, no one but other shadow-users could enter them for the purpose of mobility and if that was the case for this man he could literally fight Kageyama on an even playing field. He demonstrated just that by tackling Kageyama and throwing them both out of the shadows and making themselves visible to anyone walking by in Magnolia once more. They had crashed right into the heart of a small market area, causing cries of alarm from many patrons.

Kageyama hit a wall hard and before he could recover found himself roughly being held against it by his attacker's forearm, "Now, I'm going to ask you nicely, hand over Lullaby and you don't get hurt."

"Go to hell!" Kageyama spat, drawing shadows to his right hand, forming a hand with a set of razor-sharp claws at his finger tips around his original hand, "Shadow Claw!" His attack was aimed straight for Gallus's throat, if it connected, the jugular could very easily be severed.

"Gallus!" Erza cried with alarm as she rounded the corner just as the Eisenwald mage swung, even in her Black Wing armour she wouldn't reach them in time.

Gallus remained impassive as Kageyama grinned madly, before it reached its intended target, Gallus turned his head and bit down into the construct around his fellow shadow-user's hand. Much to the shock of both of the other mages and the civilians witnessing the confrontation, the unorthodox reaction actually stopped the attack, the tips of the claws barely touching the skin of Gallus's throat. Then it began to glow bright purple in colour and seemingly lost its solidity, next came a sound that Erza had heard before, the sound of inhalation.

'Could he be a Dragon Slayer?' Erza thought, it was the only thing that made sense to her after all.

Kageyama was completely dumbfounded that his attack was being eaten, though his opponent grimaced and shuddered after he'd completely devoured it, "Ugh, disgusting, this is why I prefer hiding in shadows rather than eating them."

"What are you?" The dark mage asked, only for Gallus to draw one of his swords with his free hand, causing him to go pale.

"I'm the little bird of a god." The Nocturnal's Mark guild master answered cryptically, turning the sword so the pommel pointed at Kageyama before he slammed it into the man's temple. He slumped against the wall like a sack of potatoes,

"Now then, where could it be?" Gallus muttered, beginning to rummage through Kageyama's clothes though with the jacket he wore it was fairly obvious where the flute would be found.

"So, that's Lullaby?" Erza said as the skull like flute was revealed, even she had to admit, it gave of an unsettling air. Gallus merely nodded, reaching out for the instrument before the three eyes glowed so bright that he flinched away from it, Lullaby becoming surrounded by a dark mist.

" **Foolish humans!"** A deep, ominous voice resounded from the object, prompting Gallus to leap back and the civilians to begin running even they could tell this new force was not to be trifled with, **"You may have defeated the one who broke my seal, but I am no such weakling!"** It shouted, dispelling the mist around it, now, standing at two metres tall was a large creature with eyes the same as the flute and appeared to be made of gnarled, twisted wood, **"I am not even at my full strength but for two mere mortals, it will suffice."**

"This is Lullaby's true form, correct?" Erza asked Gallus, taking out a second blade as she re-quipped back into her Heaven's Wheel armour.

"That's the gist of it." He confirmed, "Let's go!" He said, the Titania had no complaints, following her ally into battle.

Lullaby readied the claws that had formed on its new limbs, swiping at the two. What it didn't count on was for Gallus to take a left, briefly running up its right arm and stabbing into what would be the throat whilst Erza drew her own weapon up its left arm. The demon grunted in annoyance but otherwise didn't react.

" **Get off, you insects!"** It roared, thrashing wildly, forcing Gallus to leave his sword embedded in the monster yet despite Erza's attack, it had left only left a large scratch, **"This toothpick,"** It said, pulling the sword out with just two fingers and inspecting it, **"It is no ordinary blade, tell me, agent of Nocturnal. Why do you have possession of not one but two of their personal blades?"**

"You're correct, Lullaby," Gallus said, "But I am simply that, an agent of Nocturnal, nothing more, nothing less."

" **As you say."** It replied dismissively, clearly not believing him and tossing the sword behind itself.

Erza glanced at Gallus suspiciously but said nothing as Lullaby was of greater importance as a threat. That's when she realised where Gallus had struck and given the method in which Lullaby was said to claim the lives of its victims…

"So that's it, Gallus?" She asked, summoning three dozen extra swords, he smiled silently and nodded she returned it before raising her arm and bringing it down again, "Heaven's Wheel, Tri!" Three wheels, each comprised of a dozen blades, formed and began to spin like the blades of saws. They quickly rushed towards Lullaby, scraping some of the buildings with enough force to partially cut through the stone.

The demon barely got its arms up to try and block but was rendered null and void as the tri-attack went past the defence and just about cut at the throat and shoulder regions. It briefly chuckled at the result, **"That's your best?"** It questioned condescendingly, **"I expected more from such a flashy display, not that it would have made a difference. We've stalled for long enough, all within this city shall now hear my melody of death!"** It declared, finally having the energy to play its cursed song, beginning to inhale. As it exhaled though, instead of a song that would drain the life from all who heard it coming out, am ear-splitting screeching sound did instead before resorting to a more humorous sound of well… flatulency.

Lullaby was comically in shock at what had just happened, meanwhile even with their best efforts, Erza and Gallus couldn't help but laugh at the event. The holes bored into the demon's throat from the duo's attacks had rendered any possibility of playing any kind of song completely impossible.

" **You maggots did this!"** It rightly accused, **"I'll kill you both, then I'll slaughter every last man, woman and child here!"**

"Your accusation is correct," Gallus said, "You wished to know why I have two blades gifted to me and blessed by Nocturnal, right? Well, simply put, it's because of this." He continued raising a hand, his palm out and fingers slightly curled in. A grey sheet of sorts appeared beneath the demon, the oddest thing though was that the soles of its feet began to smoke, causing Lullaby to hiss in pain. It was prevented from moving when tendrils bound its wrists and ankles.

" **This magic… it's…"** Lullaby mumbled as fear seemed to grip it.

"Shadow Devil Slayer magic." Gallus finished, "Now then Lullaby, I, Gallus Brusevus, guild master of the guild Nocturnal's Mark, agent of Nocturnal and Devil Slayer of the Shadows, sentence you to die. Shadows consume you," He continued, closing his fist fully, encapsulating the demon in a grey sphere, "Shadow Devil's: Oblivion Sphere." The grey construct seemed to light up and a high-pitched screech was heard the prison solidified and then crumbled to dust, revealing not even a trace of Lullaby.

"That magic," Erza muttered, "It's supposed to slay demons from the Book of Zeref, correct?"

"That's right." He confirmed, at that, Erza became furious with the guild master, grabbing him by the front of his leather armour.

"Then you could have just used your magic to end the threat immediately, why didn't you?" She shouted at him.

"Erza, if it was anything but Lullaby I would have used my magic right of the bat. However, I wanted to send a message," Erza still remained scowling at him but her expression morphed to one of questioning, "You see there are two reasons as to why I didn't use my magic initially. The first is that I knew of Lullaby's potential weakness and needed to knock it down a peg."

"And the second?" Erza asked, Gallus had better have a damn good reason to why it was apparently experimental.

Apparently, he did, "The second is that Lullaby is not gone."

"Explain." She demanded in a low voice.

"Throughout history, there have been demons and Devil Slayers to fight them. However, there is a curious trait among demons from the Book of Zeref, they come back at some point. It's suspected that the perpetrators are Tartaros."

"No," Erza gasped, "One of the Baram Alliance? You mean to tell me that we've just brought down the fury of a largely unknown dark guild crashing down on Magnolia?"

"Not exactly, Devil Slayers are the only mortal demons fear, rightly so. You heard the fear in Lullaby's voice, did you not?" Erza nodded, "The fear that it experienced was genuinely real, it also just so happens that fear often causes exaggerations on how terrifying whatever caused that fear is. Any smart demon will leave Magnolia alone as I am the only one who can kill them quickly."

"I see," Erza said, her fear seeming to be abated, "I'll discuss things with my own master just in case."

"That would be best," Gallus responded, walking to the sword Lullaby had thrown away, "Good luck Erza, Makarov is a good man. If Magnolia is ever in danger from vengeful demons or otherwise, Nocturnal's Mark will assist in its defence, with our two guilds together we may very well be able to repel any threat. I hope to do business with you and your guild again." At this, he slinked into the shadows, disappearing into them. Erza didn't see where he went once he sunk into them, leaving her with her thoughts.


	9. Galuna Island

It had been some hours since the defeat of Lullaby and Eisenwald, while Team Mirajane had yet to return, preparations were being made for when they eventually would. The destruction of both a troublesome dark guild and a demon of Zeref in the same day called for a celebration as far as the Fairy Tail guild was concerned.

Erza sat at the back of the guild for a private conversation.

"I see, so that was the situation?" A small hologram of Makarov spoke, projected by a small lacrima shared between the guild master and the S-Class mages of Fairy Tail for quick communication.

"Yes master, Lullaby was defeated, but how exactly do you know Gallus?" Erza asked, she knew that despite Nocturnal's Mark's contracts were often dubious though the two guilds often stayed out of each other's way. Thus, it was strange to learn that the guild masters knew each other.

"That's quite a funny tale," Makarov chuckled, "I actually caught him attempting to steal from my office in the guild. I was about to teach him the error of his ways when he noticed my research on applications of my own Titan magic to everyday life as well as the theories behind it. That in turn developed into a conversation in which we became close friends. I trust him to keep his word, please do the same."

"Understood, I saw with my own eyes how easily Gallus destroyed Lullaby, if anyone could help us in a tight spot, it's him." Erza said, Makarov ceased the conversation, lacrima powering down. Though, Erza still worried despite what Gallus had said. That's when the guild doors were flung open with some force.

"We're back!" Natsu declared triumphantly as Team Mirajane walked through the doors of the guild. The group of five was greeted by cheers from the rest of the guild, many shouting a congratulations to them.

Once the initial congratulations were over and done with, a slow, drawn-out, sarcastic clapping rang out, "Congratulations." Came the condescending tone, the source of which was a well-built, blond man with a lightning bolt-shaped scar across the right eye. He sat on a chair on the second floor.

"Laxus!" Every member of the guild but Lucy cried out.

"What are you doing here?" Macao asked warily.

"I just came to see the weaklings who had five team members all for a third-rate dark guild, when just one of the Thunder Legion could do the same thing in less time." He shrugged, "Then there's Erza, who needed help beating a weak demon, talk about a disappointment."

"Those are fighting words, Laxus!" Natsu shouted, his fists being set alight, lunging upwards. Almost reaching the railings separating them only for Erza to appear in front of him. Swiftly, she drove the pommel of one of her swords into his stomach, causing the dragon slayer to unceremoniously fall to the ground in a heap.

"You know the rules Natsu, no going up to the second floor unless you're S-Class." Erza's stated, prompting a groan from the downed mage.

"Hah, see you lost to Erza and you honestly think you can take me on?" He questioned rhetorically in a haughty tone.

"What are you saying?" Erza questioned angrily, looking ready to very well copy Natsu albeit without repercussions. She was held back by Mira placing a hand on her shoulder though her fellow S-Class still gave Laxus a wordless glare.

"Just what's obvious, that I'm the strongest in the guild and my seat won't be taken by you, Mira or even Mystogan. You punks can celebrate your little victory as much as you want, it won't change fact, when I'm guild master you best impress me unless you want to be kicked to the kerb!" At that, the S-Class mage disappeared in a literal flash, causing much of the tension in the building to dissipate.

A clap from Mira broke the silence, "Alright everyone, now that's out the way, let's celebrate. We can't let someone like Laxus spoil an occasion like this for us!" Just those simple words caused the mood to improve significantly with the eldest Strauss manning the bar, the celebration was soon in full swing.

Lucy found herself sitting around a table with Natsu, Happy, Elfman, and Cana. Lisanna had been called to the bar to assist Mira with the number of orders and Gray was off to the side with Loke, the two friends knocking a tankard each together.

"So, who wants drinks?" Cana asked, naturally, three of her friends raised their hands. All except for Lucy as the blonde had absolutely no idea what she could order. Though the others at the table wouldn't let her go unnoticed that easily if the fact they had all turned their heads towards her was any indication.

"Um, anything you guys can recommend?" Lucy asked, Cana snapped her fingers and made a finger gun gesture at that.

"I know what would be perfect for you." She responded, though her teasing smile made it known she wouldn't tell what would be ordered, "Now let me guess, Smokey Lemon, Sea Tub, Hunter Bomb, and a Cosmo Cocktail for yours truly." She said, easily guessing the drinks for Natsu, Happy, Elfman, Gray and herself respectively before walking to the bar.

"So, what was the deal with Laxus before?" Lucy asked, while the lightning-user hadn't demonstrated any abilities to Lucy first-hand, Elfman had told her Laxus could back up his arrogance. Even so, it was still a bold claim to make that he was certain to be the next guild master.

"Heh, he's all talk, there's no way gramps would let him run the guild." Natsu confidently stated, Elfman sighed, even he could be more descriptive of the situation than his fellow guild member was.

"The thing is, Laxus is also Makarov's grandson, so by that logic he really is next in line as the fourth guild master," Lucy was surprised at that, while not having much interaction with Makarov, he seemed nice enough. To learn he was related to someone like Laxus, who more than likely had trouble controlling a massive ego, "At the same time though, if Master does say Laxus is his successor, I'm not sure if Mystogan, Mira or Erza could do anything about it."

"Yeah," Happy said, being unusually serious, "And if someone disagreed with it, he would probably set the Thunder Legion on them."

"Who are they?" Lucy asked, having never heard of the group prior to its mentioning.

Natsu was the one who responded, at first with a huff, "Those guys are pretty much Laxus's groupies, all they give a damn about is the attention they get from him so they're hardly ever in the guild hall."

"No point in worrying about any of those guys," Cana said, skilfully balancing a plethora of drinks of different colours and sizes, "Drink up!" She said, giving everyone their drinks.

Lucy looked around curiously at the other drinks, Natsu's was easily the most simplistic-looking drink, the liquid in the small glass was cloudy-yellow in colour with a slice of lemon the side. Elfman's drink was in two parts, a dark-coloured spirit in a shot glass next to a flagon of beer. Cana's cocktail was blood red but must have been stronger than it looked. Happy's was perhaps the most unusual, a dark-blue cocktail in a fish bowl-shaped glass that had a lot of ice and even gummy fish floating in it.

"Here you go," Cana said, handing Lucy a bronze-coloured drink in a tall glass, large ice cubes from top to bottom, a slice of lemon and half a strawberry in it, "It's called a Long Iceberg Tea, hope you enjoy. So, who's going-" She continued, Natsu quickly downed the concoction before Cana could even finish her challenging statement.

After drinking it, Natsu's face scrunched up slightly, "Lightweight!" Cana sneered playfully.

"No one makes a Smokey Lemon like Mira and Lis." Natsu responded waving it off.

Cana shrugged at that, "I guess if you like blended ghost peppers in your drink." She said, smugly drinking her own concoction. No one, except for Lucy seemed surprised by her statement but before she could respond verbally, Elfman poured the shot into his beer and chugged the whole thing.

"Thank the guy who created Hunter Bomb, the manliest drink ever!" Elfman said, slamming his glass back down on the table.

"My turn!" Happy declared, eagerly drinking through the straw provided for him, drinking it so fast it was gone in the blink of an eye, "Aye, that hits the spot." He sighed contently, reaching into his glass to snack on the gummy fish.

All eyes once again turned to Lucy, "Drink, drink, drink!" Her friends began chanting, adamantly repeating the simple mantra. Taking a deep breath, Lucy started drinking through the straw. The cocktail was sweet, vaguely tasting like marzipan to the blonde. Since she wasn't as accustomed to alcohol as the rest of her friends, she stopped halfway, receiving friendly jeers from the others.

After that first drink, everything soon became a haze. The lights dimmed, music had begun to play and lights of every colour flashed, almost turning the guild hall into a night club. She had been taken by the hand a few times to dance, Cana had been that person at least twice. Gray had naturally lost his shirt at some point and commanded attention as he danced surprisingly well for someone who was tipsy. That had been derailed when Natsu attempted to upstage him, eventually their dance-off snowballed into a fistfight which further went on to become one of Fairy Tail's famous brawls. After taking refuge behind the bar it was one big blur…

* * *

The first thing Lucy heard after coming to her senses was what sounded like a chainsaw being revved. That caused her to open her eyes groggily, she recognized the ceiling of her apartment.

"How did I…" She mumbled to herself as she sat up, still clad in clothes from the day before, it was clear to see who was making the noise. Natsu had crashed out on Lucy's floor, Happy curled up on his chest, how either of them got to sleep she would likely never know. He was the one making the power tool-like snores.

The dragon slayer was not the only one of her friends who was in her apartment, Cana was leaning back in a chair, breathing deeply. The Strauss siblings slept in a huddle peacefully on the couch. Lucy of course didn't mind how they had wound up in this situation, that was when she became aware of the sound of her shower being on. The identity of her mystery guest was soon revealed when Gray stepped out from the bathroom. Thankfully he was somewhat decent being shirtless but wearing pants while drying his hair off with a towel.

"Oh," He said, apparently not being embarrassed despite the situation, "You're awake, sorry about this. You're Lucy, right?" He asked.

"That's right, I know you're Gray. What happened last night?" Lucy asked, the first response she received was a chuckle from him.

"That's a story. To but it bluntly, you, Cana, Natsu and Elfman got absolutely hammered to the point of being unconscious. Your place was the closest so Mira, Lis and I came here. So, we got your key off you and made sure everyone was comfortable before we put them to bed."

Lucy gave him a curious look then indicated to Natsu who's snores had thankfully deteriorated in volume somewhat. Gray, realising what she meant, answered her.

"Natsu could sleep soundly on a bed of nails if you let him."

Lucy had to snicker at that, "I could believe that, can I get you something?"

"Tea, if you don't mind," Gray responded, "You use Celestial Wizard magic, right?" Lucy gave him a nod as she preferred a tea for both him and herself, "Figures, Loke's dead-set scared of going near you." Gray's tone didn't indicate malice, if anything he found it funny.

"Yeah, do you know what his deal is?" Lucy asked.

Her fellow Fairy Tail member shrugged, "No idea, but I'm not going to probe into his business."

"Fair enough, but if we're going to talk magics, Happy told me you use ice magic."

"Well you're right about that I use ice, but the magic I use is called Ice-Make magic," Gray stated, waving his hand, causing a vapour of tiny ice crystals to materialise in his palm, which then coalesced into the shape of a snowflake, "Something like this is quick to do but the creation is flimsy," He continued, bending the construct so it snapped, "That's why I prefer to use two hands, it's a bit slower but can take more hits."

"That's cool." Lucy said, grinning at her pun as she handed Gray his tea, pouring a bit of magic into Plue's key so the spirit appeared. Gray seemed to be physically resisting the urge to face palm but was at least fascinated by the sudden appearance of the dog.

"You don't have lemonade and sugar by any chance, do you?" The Ice-Make mage inquired after sipping his tea.

"I've got sugar, do you want some?" The blonde confirmed though she wasn't quite sure why he'd asked about lemonade in the morning.

"Not for me," Gray said, "But I'm guessing you had enough that you woke up chipper this morning. The others though might need something like that since it's a hang-over cure." At that, Gray finished the tea.

"Thanks for the advice." Lucy said.

"No worries, I'll see you around then." Gray said, placing his empty mug down, "Oh and before I forget…" He continued, digging into his pockets and fishing out a small wad of jewels, "For the lemonade and a bit of the soap I used." He said, putting the money on the kitchen work surfaces and exiting the apartment.

Lucy gave a quick wave goodbye, but her attention was quickly diverted when a voice familiar to the her spoke up.

"You're getting along with Gray right off the bat? Looks like you've got a way with guys." Cana said.

"How long were you listening in for?" Lucy asked, impressed by her friend's ability to see completely asleep.

"Long enough," Cana answered cryptically though she clearly meant the entire conversation, "Gray usually puts people at arm's length with how close he is to them. It took me a while to get to know him."

"Are you and Gray close?" Lucy asked.

"We boned." Cana stated flippantly.

Lucy blushed as red a tomato with how nonchalant Cana was being about her closeness with Gray, "That wasn't what I asked!"

"I know," Cana shrugged, not bothering to hide her smirk. Though she soon relaxed, "But in all seriousness, Gray shared a lot of stuff about his past with me, stuff that I've not got a right to share. I was going through some things as well, so it was more about comfort than anything else when we first did it. Tried it on for a bit longer but we just decided to stay friends."

"Well, you want to go shopping for lemonade?" Cana asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Don't we need to wash up and change?" Lucy asked.

"Well I…" Cana said, taking out a card with a picture of the outfit she usually wore it flashed, there was a puff of smoke and Cana appeared no different than before, "Am done changing, but if you don't mind me using your hairbrush, I'd be grateful. I can wash up anytime."

"Sure." Lucy nodded, tossing the brush to her friend as she prepared to clean up.

Gray's suggestion had been a good suggestion, when the two women had returned to the apartment, the others were all awake. Natsu and Elfman had woken up with bad hangovers, if the moans of pain and other verbal complaints they made was anything to go on. After sipping the hangover cure both had claimed to be feeling better but not up to moving around too much though the Strauss sisters and Happy were all too glad to lend a hand in looking after the two men.

Since they were now in safe hands, Lucy and Cana made their way to the guild hall, Wakaba sat outside smoking one of his cigars.

"Erza?" Cana asked, though her tone suggested she knew the answer anyway.

"Erza," The older member confirmed, "She's runnin' a real tight ship in there, a little too tight if you ask me. Be careful or she might chew you out for how much you drank last night."

Lucy groaned slightly, if what the veteran member was saying was true then she really wasn't looking forward to being told off by one of the strongest wizards in the guild. A sentiment Cana seemed to share, expressed by her worried look.

Just as expected, the armoured wizard was standing right inside at the entrance of the guild hall, "Cana, I appreciate you like drinking but don't drag in a new member who may not be so blessed as to have a miracle liver."

"Yes, Erza." The card user grumbled but otherwise didn't protest.

"And you," Erza said, turning her attention to Lucy, causing her to freeze like a deer caught in headlights, "What's your name?" She asked anticlimactically.

It took Lucy a moment to process the question, for a moment even forgetting her name before she spoke it, "I-It's Lucy, Miss Erza." She stuttered.

The redhead seemed confused at the formality, "No need to be so formal, just Erza will do, now go about your business." Lucy only nodded at that.

"Well that could have gone worse." Cana admitted as they walked towards a table where Gray and Loke were seated. The auburn-haired mage was the first to notice the duo's approach and attempted to get out of his seat until Gray pulled back the hood of his parka to make sure he didn't get away.

"Cana, Lucy." Gray greeted, Loke only gave a reluctant wave.

"Thanks for last night." Cana said, "Mind being my divination subject? I promised Lucy here I would show her my magic." She finished, slinging an arm around Lucy's shoulder.

"Sure, why not." Gray obliged kindly, prompting Cana to unsling her arm from around Lucy and take out her tarot card deck.

She used three tarot cards in the reading, the first she turned over was of a regally dressed woman, with an elaborately decorated sceptre, The Empress. Second was a raggedly dressed man who looked to be about to literally walk off a cliff, The Fool. It was the last card that unnerved everyone the most, a skeleton garbed in a flowing, black cloak wielding a scythe, Death.

"Cana, what does this mean?" Gray demanded suddenly, appearing visibly anxious. His outburst garnered the attention of several in the guild hall.

"Just give me a minute, let me think," She responded in a calming tone, "According to the cards, something from your past left unfinished and at some point, death is involved. That's all I can interpret from these three."

"No," Gray said, "No, no, no!" The Ice wizard suddenly shot out of his seat, staggering back and began to shake with uneven breathing, "Don't let it be true, don't let it be true! That thing can't be let loose again!" The shaking intensified and almost turned to sobs as tears began to flow in cascades.

Cana practically threw herself across the table at her friend, "Gray, Gray it's okay, it's okay." She tried to reassure him, pulling him into a hug. Now every pair of eyes was aimed directly at the scene.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked in alarm. Though no one except Cana or Gray could provide an answer and currently they were being held up. The most the blonde could do was watch what was unfolding with the rest of the concerned guild.

It took at least an hour for Gray to finally calm down somewhat from the anxiety attack and nearly another before he was finally able to speak specifically to anyone, midway through Loke had tried his hand at reassuring Gray to give Cana a break and allow her to determine an exact location.

"Wh-Where is it?" Gray croaked, "Please, if it is what I think it is, we need to stop it, no matter what."

"And we will," Cana affirmed, "It looks like whatever it is, is located somewhere called Galuna Island."

"Did you say Galuna Island?" Came a surprised question from Erza.

"You've heard of it?" Gray asked, interest becoming piqued.

"Yes, it's mentioned on one of the jobs on the S-Class board. All I know is that it's an island to the southeast of Fiore." She said.

"You have to let me go on it!" He demanded but even given the situation, Gray soon corrected himself, "Please Erza, I'll get on my hands and knees if it means going."

"I can't let you go," Gray seemed ready to accost the statement but Erza beat him to the punch, "Unless, I go with you. Normally, I wouldn't even allow that especially after what could have happened two years ago but I know this is important to you but I must insist on bringing others along. We don't know what dangers we could face."

"Count me in." Loke said resolutely.

"I'm in too," Cana said, "Lucy, you want to come with? Is that okay with you guys?" Lucy was flattered that Cana had remembered the promiser to take her on a mission but was unsure just how the other three would react to Cana's suggestion. Gray seemed not to mind despite having never seen Lucy's abilities before and while Loke looked nervous of the idea he didn't raise any concern.

Erza on the other hand, was rightfully sceptical, "You want to take a new member on an S-Class mission?" She asked incredulously, "Do you not realise how dangerous that could be for her? For all of us?"

"Hey, Lucy risked her neck going after Eisenwald with Mira and the others. Plus, if we bring her along we're practically bringing four extra people with us." Cana said defensively.

"How so?" Erza asked.

Before Cana could reply, Lucy stepped forward, "I use Celestial Spirit magic, I have four Zodiacs, that's what Cana meant." She said, holding up her keys.

"That's… coincidental," Erza responded, "Part of the reward for the completion of the job is actually a Zodiac key."

"Do you know which one it is?" Lucy asked eagerly.

"It doesn't specify, but I at least see that you could prove valuable to this mission, you may come along if you wish," The armoured wizard spoke, Lucy, Cana and even Gray looked thankful at that, "There is however one ground rule, you are to remain at the side of at least one us at all times. Apologies but I'm unaware of your experience and there's no telling how dangerous this mission could get for us. Is that understood?"

"Yes Erza." Lucy nodded, in a way she couldn't blame the redhead's concerns given that she had the least amount of combat experience out of everyone on their rag-tag team.

"That settles it then, meet at Magnolia Station in two hours, we'll depart for Hargeon as soon as we can." Erza declared.


End file.
